


Winter Fire Hair

by ArchonBane88



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Apologies, Asperger Syndrome, Bad Flirting, Bullying, Confrontations, Cousins, Drunken Confessions, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Family, Family Feels, Fights, Flirting, French Kissing, Gossip, High School, Implied/Referenced Suicide, M/M, Major Original Character(s), Making Out, Music, Neck Kissing, Original Character(s), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Panic Attacks, Partying, Relationship(s), Slow Burn, Teen Romance, Underage Drinking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-27
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:20:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 37,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26672035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArchonBane88/pseuds/ArchonBane88
Summary: Theo Marshall and his family moves to Riverdale with the expectation that everything will be different. He is right. Everything is different when you are pulled into an orgy of mysteries in this Town With Pep, beginning with the murder of Jason Blossom.
Relationships: Archie Andrews/Veronica Lodge, Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones, Cheryl Blossom/Original Male Character(s), Ginger Lopez (Archie Comics)/Original Male Character(s), Joaquin DeSantos/Kevin Keller, Original Male Character(s)/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 10





	1. "The Town With Pep!"

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first story on AO3. Criticism is welcome. Let me know what you think!

Theo ran down the stairs as quick as he could, backpack in hand. He entered the kitchen, quickly scrummaging through the cabinets like an oversized mouse looking for the next crumb of cheese. He was running late. He had no time to sit here and eat breakfast. He found the loaf of bread, grabbed a slice, and popped it in the toaster. After that, he opened the fridge and got out a can of soda. Soda now, since he moved north, he couldn’t call it pop anymore. he took a quick swig, got the toast, stuffed it in his mouth, and ran out the door, swiftly locking it behind him. He checked the time: “7:54 AM”. _God, my parents are gonna kill me if I’m late._ After a few minutes of running down the sidewalk, his phone began to vibrate and he looked to see who was calling: “Betty”. He had missed her personal tour she was taking with another girl. He shook his head and answered the phone. “Yeah I know I’m running late!” he said point-blank.

God, this was not the time. He imagined Betty over the phone, shaking her head in aggravation. “Well, you need to hurry Theo. We have an assembly in several minutes.” she said. “Yeah, fuck off, I’ll be there in a minute.” he said, and he hung up the phone. Next thing he knew he bumped into something and ate some concrete. “Ah shit!” that wasn’t his voice. He had bumped into _someone_. “Shit man, I’m sorry, I’m running late.” he said, getting up from the ground and picking up his backpack. He looked and saw that the guy, probably his age, had dropped his binder and his notebook paper was strewn everywhere. “Dammit dude, I’m sorry.” Theo repeated, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. “Nah, you’re good,” the boy said, getting up and approaching the paper. “I’m running late too.” “Here, let me help you with that.” Theo said. Kneeling and picking up some of the paper, handing it to the boy. The boy picked up the paper and put it back in the binder. “Thanks man. You goin’ my way?” Theo looked at him. “Depends on which way you’re talking about?” “Riverdale High.” “Yep, I’m heading your way. My names Theo, Theo Marshall.” Theo said. The boy nodded. “Justin, Justin Maxwell.” Theo and Justin shook hands and began to walk to the school. 

•••

Betty bit the inside of her lips as she, Kevin, and Veronica Lodge walked into the gym. Theo was still nowhere in sight. The asshole had hung up on her too so she doubted that he would answer his phone again. “Well, so much for thinking Theo wouldn’t be late.” Betty said to herself, sitting in the middle part of the bleachers. She sighed. “Oh come on, I’m sure he’ll be here soon.” Kevin said, sitting beside her. “I hope so.” After everybody was seated, Principal Weatherbee went up to the stand. “First off, before we invite Ms. Blossom onto the stage, I’d like to introduce myself to the freshmen. I’m Waldo Weatherbee, principal of Riverdale High…”

•••

“We aren’t taking tardies today, so you two don’t have to worry about getting in trouble. We have an assembly in the gym.” the lady at the front desk said. Theo and Justin exited the office and made their way towards the gym. Theo looked at Justin, scowling. “Why are we having an assembly this early?” he asked. Justin shook his head. “Cheryl fucking Blossom.” “Who?” “Cheryl Blossom. Her twin brother died last month. Some shit about the back-to-school dance.” he said. Theo raised an eyebrow. “What’s the problem with this Cheryl Blossom and her brother dying?” Justin looked at Theo with the most serious look you could give a human being. “Cheryl Blossom is the biggest bitch of this school!” he said. “She bullies everyone, and that’s because she’s the most popular girl in the school! Her rich family runs the whole fucking town. Don’t get me wrong, it’s sad what happened to her brother, but it doesn’t change the way she is!” Justin finished. “And I’m guessing she bullied you?” Theo asked. “Like I said, everyone.” Justin answered. The new pair of friends made their way to the double doors of the gym, and they entered. A few people, including a few staff members, looked at them. Theo hated it when a lot of people stared at him. It gave him the feeling that they were criticizing him. He normally didn’t feel that way however. Why-

 _Dammit_ he thought. One staff member, a woman in her 50s or 60s, walked to them. “You boys just sit over there at the bleachers.” she whispered. “Okay, thank you.” Theo and Justin whispered back. Theo looked around the gym. Old Glory hanging on the wall, the scoreboards and the flags of when the highschools sports team won a game, and then he noticed a certain girl looking at him.

She was wearing a black dress and a red skirt, her red hair hanging down her back. She was also wearing a black, small veil, which covered her forehead. Theo managed a small smile and waved at her, nodding. She gave him a solemn smile. Justin scoffed beside him. “I can’t believe you would wave at that red headed whore.” he whispered. Theo was took back by Justin’s comment. “So? She was… wait a minute, was that?” Theo tilted his head towards the girls direction, and Justin nodded Theo lips made a small O. Theo and Justin sat down, where a girl with raven black hair tapped Justin’s shoulder. “Took you long enough.” she whispered. “Fuck you Charlotte.” Justin whispered back with a smile. Cheryl cleared her throat. “Thank you for that moment of silence. Many of you were lucky enough to have known my brother personally. Each and every one of you meant the world to Jason.” “My ass.” Charlotte commented. “I loved my brother. He was and always will be my soulmate. So I speak with the confidence only a twin could have. Jason wouldn’t want us to spend the year mourning. Jason would want us to move on with our lives. Which is why I’ve asked the School Board not to cancel the Back-to-School Semiformal.”

Everyone, excluding Charlotte and Justin, applauded. And Cheryl smiled. “But rather, to let us use it as a way to heal, collectively, and celebrate my brother’s too, too short life on this mortal coil. Thank you all.” Everyone clapped as Cheryl walked away from the stand. Justin and Charlotte clapped, albeit slowly and not as loud as everyone else. Justin and Charlotte looked at Theo, and Justin put his palm on his shoulder. “We need to train you to not fall in love with that nasty bitch.” Everyone got up and made their way to the double doors, Theo did until someone grabbed him on the arm, startling him. He turned and saw the blonde-haired Betty Cooper looking at him with a look of disdain. “Not so fast Flash.” she said. She pulled Noah over to the side, leaving him behind Justin and Charlotte. “Why were you late?” she asked him. Theo shrugged. “I thought I set my alarm, okay? It’s not my fault. Also, my parents went into work early.” Theo explained. Betty shook her head, and looked at the dark-haired and another raven-haired girl. “See what I have to deal with now?” she added, and she turned her head back at Theo. “Friends of yours I assume?” Theo said. “Yep, that’s Kevin and Veronica, she’s new like you.” Betty chimed.

“Oh, I’m sorry lapdogs is the word since they’re gathered around me.” Theo said. Betty gave him a light push and he smiled and laughed. “It’s good to see you.” he said. “Yeah, you too.” Betty replied. They hugged. “PDA!” the staff member, the same that helped Theo and Justin, cried out in her shrill voice. Looking at Theo and Betty. Theo and Betty stopped and they looked at her. A few students looked over at their direction. “‘PDA!’ she’s my cousin!” Theo mocked the staff members tone of voice, it almost matched hers. Kevin snorted while Veronica put a hand over her mouth. A few of the students began to giggle and look at each other. Betty looked down, smiling. The staff member stared at him, shook her head, and walked off. They began to laugh quietly. “Oh, what are we gonna do about you Theo?” Betty asked. Theo shook his head.

“I have no idea.”

•••

Theo handled his lunch tray with care as he went out to the courtyard. He spotted Betty sitting with her friends, and her crush Archie Andrews. The first Archie spotting for Theo since he came here to Riverdale. “No, it’s great.” he overheard Betty say. “It’s incredible actually, the little snippet I heard.” Veronica said. Betty gave her a weird look which made Theo smile nervously at the thought of Betty and Veronica getting into a catfight. “Hey, can I sit here?” Theo asked. They all turned to him. “Of course Theo!” Betty said. Theo sat his lunch tray down and sat down besides Kevin, who moved a bit to give him some room. Theo dug out his headphones and stuck the plug in his phone as he began to find a song to eat to, but he kept listening to the conversation. “Is that your thing? Music?” Veronica asked. “Are you doing something with that?” “Yeah, that’s the plan.” Archie said. “So how's your first day going? Good?” he asked. Theo looked up and thought he was talking to him but he was actually talking to Veronica.

He looked at her. “Not to be a complete narcissist, but I thought people would be more-” “Obsessed with you?” Kevin interjected. “Any other year, you’d be trending number one, for sure. This year, though, it’s all about Cheryl trying to win the Best Supporting Psycho Oscar for her role as Riverdale High’s bereaved Red Widow.” “She acts like one honestly, did you see that veil on her head?” Theo said. “Who didn’t. How about your day Theo? Pretty good?” Archie asked, and they all looked at him. The anxiety started to kick in but Theo managed out some words. “It’s okay. First day and I almost got in trouble for something I didn’t do.” Theo answered. Everyone chuckled. “Yeah, Betty told me about that.” Archie got his stuff and stood up. “I should go, I got that meeting with Grundy and then football tryouts, so.” he said, and began to leave. “You play football, too? What don’t you do?” Veronica said. Theo rolled his eyes at Betty’s new competitor. Justin then approached the table. “Hey Theo, may I?” he asked, and Theo nodded; he sat down. A few moments of silence passed until Kevin’s voice broke it. “Before you ask, Blue Jasmine, no, she has not invited him to the dance yet.” he said, almost sounding angry.

Betty shot her head at Kevin and Veronica. “Not yet, and don’t talk about Archie.” Betty said swiftly. Theo then noticed the shadow of Cheryl Blossom approaching the table. “Veronica Lodge, I heard whisperings.” she sang as everyone went back into their normal stance. “I’m Cheryl Blossom, may I sit? Betty, would you mind?” Betty scooted over and Cheryl sat down across from Veronica. Justin looked at Cheryl and shook his head. “Fuck.” he mouthed. “So, what are you five hens gossiping about?” she sang again. “Archie’s Efron-esque emergence from the chrysalis of puberty?” Betty looked over at Veronica and slightly shook her head. “Extracurriculars. Weatherbee wants me to sign up for a few.” Veronica lied. “Cheerleading! You must!” Cheryl exclaimed. “I’m senior captain of the River Vixens.” “Is cheerleading still a thing?” Kevin asked. “Is being the gay best friend still a thing?” Cheryl answered with a mean look. “Is being a cheerleader still a popular girl thing?” Theo said. Cheryl shot her eyes at Theo. She smiled a bit.

“Well, it’s so nice to meet one of Elizabeth Cooper’s cousins, Richard B. Spencer.” Cheryl said, making fun of Theo’s undercut hair, that was similar to the infamous white supremacist. Theo rolled his eyes. “Well, your reputation precedes you, Regina George.” he shot back. “Oh does it? I’m sure you've heard of my reputation from Ozzy Osbourne over there, who I saw was talking shit about me earlier today.” Cheryl looked at Justin. “Well I’ll admit that’s shitty, but Ozzy Osbourne is way more cooler than Regina George, since he bit the head offa bat. The best thing Regina George did was get hit by a bus.” “And how do you know about _Mean Girls_ , _monsieur_? It’s not something a boy should be watching.” she said, smiling. “Well, in my family, what Kevin’s sexuality is is something a boy shouldn't have, but you don’t see me bitching about him being gay, do you? Just like you did?” Cheryl rolled her eyes and turned back to Veronica. “But as I was saying, some people say it’s retro, I say it’s eternal and iconic.” she said.

“At Spence, I sat at the top of the Elites’ pyramid. I’m in.” Veronica nodded and she turned to Betty. “Betty, you’re trying out, too.” Cheryl turned to look at Betty. “Of course, anyone’s welcome to try out, but Betty’s already got so much on her plate right now-” Theo scowled at Cheryl as she eyed Betty’s tray, however, she might’ve been talking about Polly. That pissed him off. However, as much as he would like to insult her, he stayed silent. “-But open to all!” Cheryl finished. She stood up. “Follow me on Twitter and I’ll do the same. My handle’s @cherylbombshell.” she said and walked away. Theo still scowled at her as she left, shaking his head. “Fucking prissy bitch.” he said. “Out of the mouths of babes, what did I tell you?” Justin said. “Okay. Go ahead and hate on cheerleading, but if Hipster Prince Harry-” Veronica started until Betty interrupted. “I’d love to be a cheerleader. It would look great on my college applications, but last year when I tried out, Cheryl said I was too fat.” Theo’s blood began to boil once more. “‘Too season 5 Betty Draper.” It was a great line.” Kevin said, which made Veronica chuckle a bit. Theo shut up and they caught each others eyes; she went silent. “But not at all true.” Kevin shook his head. “Well, you’re a total smoke show now, I mean it. As hot and as smart as you are, you should be the Queen Bey of this drab hive.” Veronica said. “You’re damn right she should be.” Theo said. “Look, if you want to be a River Vixen, I’ll help you prep. I have moves.” Veronica finished.

“Okay. You know what? Show me your moves.” Betty said, taking a bite out of her apple. 

•••

“I defend you on defending Kevin, me, and yourself, but you didn’t have to do Veronica that way.” Justin said as he slammed his locker shut. “Oh my freaking God, I get it!” Theo said, feeling like he wanted to tear his hair out. “I’ll apologize to her next time I see her, I promise.” “Promise what?” Charlotte asked as she came up beside Justin. “Nothing.” Justin answered. “Oh yes, I don’t think you guys have been properly introduced. Theo, the girl in the Metallica shirt and skinny jeans is Charlotte Baxter, my partner-in-crime. Charlotte Baxter, Theo Marshall” he said. Charlotte waved. “Wassup?” she said. “Okay, now that we have the pleasantries out of the way, I gotta tell you guys something important.” Justin began as they walked out of the high school. “To introduce you to this beautiful town of Riverdale. I’ve thought we’d take you out to Pops this Friday for his famous cheeseburgers. Theo, what do you think?” Theo shrugged. “I don’t know guys, Betty wanted me to go with her to the semiformal. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’ve been planning on going to Pops, I’ve heard a lot of good things about it, but Betty is really wanting me to go.” he said. They stayed silent for a few minutes. “Well, how about Saturday?” Justin asked. “I have a better idea, why don’t you guys come with me to the dance this Friday? It sounds like fun anyway.” Theo said. Justin shook his head. “And be with all the dumbasses and jocks? Hell no, I already deal with that 5 days a week.” Justin said, which made Charlotte giggle. “Come on, I mean, I hate being around those guys as you guys, but c’mon! There will be free food, dancing, and all that good jazz.” Theo sang. “And a bunch of other shit I can’t name at the top of my head.” Justin sighed. “Fine, I’ll go for you though.” “What?! HELL NO!” Charlotte said. Justin and Theo looked at Charlotte for a few minutes. She sighed, a sign of defeat. “Fine! I’ll go with you guys, but I’m not going to like it!” she said. “Attagirl!” Justin said, putting his arm around her. She shoved his arm away. “Oh shuddup!” After a few short conversations, they all said their goodbyes. Theo opened the door to his house. He did that unconsciously, and heard sounds in the living room. A sign that told him his parents were home. “Hey guys!” he said, taking his shoes off. “Hey!” his parents said in unison. Theo entered the living room and saw his mom and dad sitting on the couch. “So how did it go?” his dad asked as Theo sat down on a nearby chair. “It went pretty good. Made some new friends today. Saw Betty.” he said. “Alice told me that Betty said you mocked a staff member for calling you guys out.” his mom said. Theo smiled at the thought. That was gonna be funny for a day or two. “I sure did. Am I in trouble for that?” he asked. His mom shook his head. “No, but you need to quit that shit. That’s not funny.” she said. Theo rolled his eyes. “Not funny to you, but sure as heck funny to me.” he said. His mom rolled his eyes. “Well, please try not to get in trouble in your first month.” she said. Theo got up and decided to walk up back to his room.

“I’ll try not to.” he said

“No, you won’t!” his mom yelled as he came up to his room.

“I’ll try not to!” he repeated.

•••

“I hate the fucking both of you.” Charlotte said in a monotone voice as she, Justin, and Theo entered the gym, adorned with hanging pictures of the late Jason Blossom. Justin and Theo were dressed to the nines in their tuxedos. So was Charlotte in her black dress. They all went to a nearby table and sat down. “Aw c’mon Charlotte! Have a bit of fun.” Justin said. “‘A bit of fun’?” she repeated. “For me, a bit of fun is going to sleep, not being here in this shithole.” she said. “It’s not so bad, I’m liking it here so far.’ Theo said. Charlotte rolled her eyes. “Yeah, you’ll be saying that when everyone and their grandmother gets drunk on spiked punch.” Charlotte said. “Yeah, if I’m drunk myself, I probably will.” Theo said. “Now hold on, I didn’t mean ‘Everyone’ everyone.” Charlotte said, throwing her hands up. “Oh yeah you did!” Justin agreed with Theo, giving her a shit-eating grin. “It was damn-near impossible to change your mind Justin! Now that Theo’s here, it’s outright impossible!” she yelled. They laughed. A few minutes of talking and laughing later, Cheryl’s voice echoed throughout the gym. “Good evening, friends. Are you all having a good time?” Everyone cheered and clapped their hands. “FUCK NO!” Charlotte said, but no one could hear her. “As honorary chairperson and de facto queen of tonight’s semiformal, it is my great pleasure to introduce this evening’s main entertainment. To know them is to be obsessed with them. Though they usually perform their own material, tonight, they’re making an exception and debuting a cover of the song my parents claim they were listening to the night Jason and I were conceived.”

Theo, Justin, and Charlotte disregarded the rest of the speech and looked at each other with looks that screamed “what the fuck?”. “Who the fuck says that? Theo asked. “Her apparently.” Justin answered. “Ok, I would say that you guys aren’t having fun now, but that! That was too fucked up for me to say that.” she said. Everyone began to cheer as the band began to play. They all got up. Justin looked at Theo. “You don’t mind if me and her dance, do you?” Justin said, pointing to Charlotte. Theo shook his head. “No, I don’t mind, go ahead.” he said. _Actually I do_ , he thought. There wasn’t nobody he could dance with. Veronica would’ve been an option but she was dancing with Kevin. Maybe with Betty, like that won’t creep the fuck out of the whole school. He leaned back in his chair. He conceded, he was alone. For the first time, he had no one to dance with. “Hello there my fellow classmate.” Theo shut his eyes and tightened his lips. _As if the night couldn’t get any worse_. He looked up and saw Cheryl Blossom and her fellow bitches, Ginger Lopez and Tina Patel. He opened his eyes, sat up and looked at the popular girl.

“Cheryl, how are you?” he said. “Oh I’m fantastic. Would you like to dance?” She wasn’t serious. After all that shit she spat out? “Nah, I think I’m-” “Please!” she said, it almost sounded like she was begging. Theo looked at her up and down like she had gone insane. She was bound to after all the shit she said to Kevin, Justin, Betty, and about Polly. _Whoever spiked that punch must’ve put in a little extra_ , he thought. Hell, even Tina and Ginger looked at her like she was crazy! “I mean, please, as in please forget about all I said, you look like you need a dance, which is something you should have, since you are new here.” she said. Theo surrendered. “Sure, let’s dance.” he said, and he got up and went with Cheryl to the dance floor. He put his hands on her waist and hers on his shoulders.

“Sooo…”

“Sooo?”

“So, how are you liking Riverdale so far?” she asked. Theo shrugged. “It’s like my old town, pretty small, surrounded by the forest and shit. Not too different except that it’s close to New York City.” “Oh yeah!” Cheryl agreed. “So, where did you used to live?” “Southeastern Kentucky.” “Oh, home of the Kentucky Derby, right?” “Duh.” They laughed. Cheryl’s laugh sounded more than real to Theo, but Theo’s laugh was fake. He didn’t feel right, he didn’t feel like this should be happening. But he had to keep going. “So, how’s things been with you and your family since your brothers passing?” Theo knew he hit a soft spot. He thought she had flinched when he asked that. “I’m sorry, I was just-” “NO, it’s fine!” she shot. She was silent for a few seconds before speaking. “Me and Jason were twins, so it’s been hard for me. It’s been hard for my family too. We’re taking it day by day.” Theo nodded. “I understand that. It’s hard when you lose someone.” The song ended and everyone cheered and clapped at the performance. Except for Theo. Something still didn’t feel right. No, everything was all wrong. “Hey Cheryl, I’m gotta go, see ya.” he said, and began to walk away, out of the gym doors. “Hey, wait-” she started, but it was too late, he was gone. “Well, so much for your plan Cheryl.” Tina remarked as she walked up to her. Her arms crossed. “Oh don’t worry, we still have three more targets left.” Cheryl said. Looking at Betty and Archie. While she knew what she was going to do with the love birds, she didn’t know what the hell happened with Theo. She couldn’t figure it out. However the thought of Theo would be gone soon after.


	2. Mystery Somewhat Solved

Next week came around as quick as the weekend and the sun shone through the trees of the Northside neighborhood. Theo had seen the area of the Northside plenty of times, as he lived there, close by to Betty. But something just seemed beautiful about today, even though the tragic news of Jason Blossom’s body being found with a bullet wound in his head hung over the town like a black cloud.

Theo received the texts about Jason’s dead body from Betty and Justin on Saturday morning, waking him up from his mummy-like slumber. Betty and Justin were at the crime scene, so was Archie, who had ditched Betty for that Veronica slut and “your girlfriend Cheryl”, as Justin said in his text to Theo. He knew Justin and Charlotte were angry about Theo dancing with Cheryl at the dance, and angry changed to pissed off when Theo had ditched them. “Sorry, I had a panic attack,” he said. That much was true. “I don’t know why.”. 

That was half true. For an odd reason, he sometimes didn’t know why he had panic attacks. It took him time to figure that out. He knew he was upset about being alone, but what was the other reason? This time, Theo woke up on time, put on a band tee with a pair of shorts to match alongside his sneakers, and walked downstairs to the kitchen, getting out some cereal. After eating the cereal, he left the milk where it was, and popped in his mouth a pill, and used the milk to wash it down. The doorbell rang, and Theo got up and opened the door.

Justin and Charlotte stood there. Justin was the first to speak. “My man!” he exclaimed, arms open wide like he wanted to give Theo a hug. “Hey Justin, Charlotte!” Theo said, giving a small wave. “What time is it? We’ll hang out here for a bit if we have time.” Charlotte asked. Theo looked back and squinted at the clock on the oven. “7:00, we got time.” Theo said. 

They entered the living room, and sat down on the rug, Indian style.

“So, who do you guys think killed Jason?” Charlotte whispered as if the house was wiretapped by the police. “It was obviously Cheryl. The proof is there in black and white.” Justin answered. “I don’t know, does the Blossom Family even own guns?” Charlotte asked. “They must, my dad says that they go shooting sometimes. Like duck shooting or some other shit.” Justin answered. “Cheryl’s ‘poor sad me’ attitude is nothing but an act.” “But what if it isn’t?” Theo interjected. “I mean, why would she kill him?” 

“Don’t tell me you’re defending her after-”

“I’m not defending her because I danced with her, Justin! I’m just saying… Why would she kill him? I’ve heard that he was just about as popular as Cheryl.” 

“Well, obviously, she wants more of the fame. She always wants to be the center of attention. She’s practically drunk on that.” Justin added. “Wouldn’t somebody famous want more fame and attention?”

“I dunno.” Charlotte said. “Something feels off to me. She loves attention, that’s not far from the truth.” 

“We’ll find out sometime soon then.” Theo said. “People say that the sheriff is at the school.”

•••

“We were wondering, Cheryl. Back in July, you told the po-po that Jason drowned.”

“Yet, we come to find out that Jason didn’t drown. He was shot. That’s slightly suspicious, no?”

Through the song _Closer to Fine_ , Theo listened in on the interrogation that Tina and Ginger were giving Cheryl. Justin and Charlotte (Justin especially) would have a field day if they were in here. Theo knows that Justin would let Cheryl have his two cents on what happened. “Are you living mannequins suggesting I had something to do with my brother’s death?” Cheryl barked, snapping her glove on loudly it made Theo blink.

Theo got out his phone and texted the group chat he, Justin, and Charlotte were in. 

_Tina and Ginger are asking Cheryl about Jason_

A vibration.

_Justin: No damn wonder! I’d be asking questions too!_

“Seats everyone! Pair off, gloves on, scalpels up!” Dr. Phylum said as he entered the class. Theo took his headphones off and slid his phone in his pocket.

“Can I be with Cheryl?”

“And I wanna be with Betty!”

As everyone continued to yell at each other, Dr. Phylum went over to Theo. “Mr. Marshall, you can just pair up with…” he looked through the room. “Archie and Cheryl, is that okay?” 

“Yeah, that’s fine.” Theo said, and he moved his stuff over to the table where they were sitting. “Hi guys, I’m teaming up with y’all.” he said. “That’s fine.” Archie commented. “That’ll be fine.” Cheryl also commented.

Theo pulled up a stool and sat next to Cheryl. Putting on a pair of gloves. A smell instantly gripped his nose like a vise, a strong, sweet scent. He knew then and there that was Cheryl’s perfume. It made his heart race. Not just from her marvelous scent, but also what happened at the Semiformal. Not only did he ditch Justin and Charlotte that night, he ditched on Cheryl.

He didn’t like Cheryl, but he thought it nice to apologize to her. “Hey Cheryl, I’m sorry for ditching you at the dance, I wasn’t feeling good.”

Cheryl turned around to look at Theo, her brown eyes piercing his own hazel. “It’s okay. I was wanting to invite you over that night to a party. Archie, Veronica, and your cousin was there too.” Cheryl said. Theo scowled at her, however that didn’t emit a reaction to Cheryl, still looking at him with the same straight-faced look. “‘Please forget all I said’ what the fuck happened to that?” he asked mockingly. 

Cheryl rolled her eyes. “Did you really think I meant that?” 

Now Theo was pissed. First it was Betty, then Justin, then Polly, then everyone else. His blood was on fire and the next thing he knew, he went supernova.

“Well at least I didn’t kill my brother.”

He must’ve said that a bit too loud, everyone in the classroom went silent and was looking at them. Cheryl smiled, although he knew damn well she wasn’t happy. 

“What?!” she nearly screamed, the scalpel in her hand stabbed into the frog with a squishing sound. The classroom gasped and Dr. Phylum instantly appeared at their table. “I’ll be taking that,” he said, picking up the scalpel embedded in the frog’s body. “Ms. Blossom, Mr. Marshall, get your stuff and follow me.” 

•••

Principal Weatherbee looked at Cheryl and Theo with a stern look. His hands were clasped together on the desk. “Dr. Phylum tells me that you two got into an altercation in his class. Care to elaborate on what happened?” 

“Theo accused me of killing my brother!”

“Well that’s karma for treating my cousin-”

“HEY!” Weatherbee yelled. “This might be the start of the school year, but I will not hesitate to put you two in after-school detention! Now, what started all this?” Weatherbee looked at them red faced. Theo spoke up and looked at Weatherbee.

“I apologized to Cheryl for ditching her at the dance because I noticed she told me to wait. She said she was going to invite me to a party, the same party where my cousin ran off upset because of her.” Weatherbee nodded, giving him the go-ahead to continue. “I asked what happened that night to ‘please forget what happened’ and she asked me if I really thought she meant that, so I said, ‘at least I didn’t kill my brother’ and she screamed ‘what’.”

Weatherbee nodded and looked at Cheryl. “Ms. Blossom, would you care to share your side of the story?” he asked. Cheryl shook her head. “No, everything he said was true.” she answered. Weatherbee nodded. “Well, I will say this, you,” he pointed at Theo. “Shouldn’t be accusing anyone of murder, especially on a topic that’s very sensitive to your fellow classmates, and one that’s currently being investigated by authorities. And you,” he pointed at Cheryl. “Even though it’s well out of my control because it was outside of school, shouldn’t be bullying other people and screaming. And Dr. Phylum did tell me about how you stabbed that dead frog right in front of Mr. Marshall, which could’ve been used as a weapon had he not appeared at the right time. Now I’m not saying you would Ms. Blossom, but we have to take that precaution.” he finished. Then he sighed.

“Since it’s so early in the year and other things are going on, I’ll give you two an exception: You guys won’t have after-school or in school suspension. However, I do want twenty sentences turned in to me by tomorrow, and an apology to Dr. Phylum for interrupting his class. Okay?” he said. Cheryl and Theo nodded. “Mr. Marshall, say you’re sorry to Ms. Blossom. Ms. Blossom, I want you to do the same.”

Theo wanted to refuse such a thing. However, if he refused, he didn’t know how he would be punished. He certainly didn’t want to have after-school or I.S.S.. “I’m sorry Cheryl.” he forced. She nodded. “I’m sorry too, Theo.” 

Weatherbee nodded. “Good, you two can head back to Dr. Phylum now.”

•••

Justin and Charlotte stared at Theo, their mouths agape. “Woah… I wouldn’t think nobody would say that to Cheryl.” Justin said. Theo had explained the story of what had happened in Dr. Phylum’s room. Charlotte played with her bitter school mashed potatoes with her spoon. “You better hope no one doesn’t try to kill you for that. A snap of the fingers and she could probably get the football team on you.” she said. 

Theo shook his head. “I didn’t know what got into me. Normally, I would just give someone an average insult but…” he shook his head again.

“Well, at least you didn’t tell her to go kill herself or something of the sort. With everything going on, they’d kick your ass out of this school faster than you can say ‘Jack Robinson’.” Justin said. Theo nodded in agreement. He knew what it was like in 99.9% of the high schools and other schools in America. If you said something to the rich asshole in school, they’d cry to their parents and you’d get in trouble, and they wouldn’t be.

“So do you guys wanna head to the pep rally?” Theo asked. He expected a plethora of ‘nos’ from Charlotte and a singular one from Justin, but Justin shrugged. “I might. I’ve thought about it but with the weather…” he shook his head. “After what happened last Friday, I’ve actually thought about it, but I’m the same with Justin.” Charlotte said. “I’ll go if you guys do though. I’d figured I’d have more fun with friends now that I’m here.” 

Theo was about to get his tray until he heard sobbing and a figure move past the table. He thought it was just another teen girl heading through drama, until he saw the blonde hair of Betty. Justin and Charlotte were also looking. He looked back at them. “Guys, I gotta go talk to her.” Theo got up and jogged to Betty. “Betty. Betty! Elizabeth!” he yelled. She stopped and Theo looked at her. Hot, salty tears were running down her face. Her lower lip stuck out. The sight wanted to make Theo cry. “Hey, hey it’s okay.” he whispered softly, hugging her. 

“I can’t Theo, I can’t.” she managed through sobs and the confines of Theo’s ‘Black Sabbath’ shirt. “It’s okay Bets, it’s okay.” he patted and rubbed her back. Seeing his cousin, knowing what she went through. It made his heart shatter. “C’mon, let’s go home.”

“I can’t, I have cheerleading practice and-”

“Fuck that, you’re upset.” Theo said. “We need to head home.”

“Theo, please. That’s not even possible for us anyway.” she was right. Apparently school rules were if you were eighteen, you could check out. Theo sighed. “Well can I at least stay with you for a bit? Can you at least talk to me about what happened?” he asked. She sniffed and nodded. “Yeah.” she whispered. Theo put his arm around her and they went into the hallway.

•••

It was late in the evening when Theo decided to head out to Betty’s house and check on her. He was annoyed with the current situation, with Archie for doing what he did, with Veronica for practically instigating the entire thing. Of course, he saw Betty cry many times over many things. Hell, she even saw him cry. But this was a different story than all of the others. She didn’t deserve what was happening to her.

He shook his head in aggravation and kept walking down the sidewalk, wearing his hoodie. He walked up the block and saw an old, yet new-looking Impala parked beside the sidewalk. An all too familiar vehicle. Once again, his blood boiled as he saw the car of Cheryl Blossom sit where his cousin lived. 

He walked up towards the house and saw the door swing open and close just as fast. He saw her stomping towards her vehicle. “Where the fuck do you think you’re going?” he asked Cheryl. She shook her head. “None of your business, redheaded aryan.” she said as she flew past him. Without instinct, Theo grabbed her arm, which made her turn around in anger. “You better tell me what the hell you have against my family Blossom!” he spat in anger. Cheryl crossed her arms. “Betty invited me over-”

“And yet you’re leaving pissed off! Now tell me what is your major malfunction?” she sighed and rolled her eyes. “I was wondering if Polly killed my brother.” Cheryl forced. Theo looked at Cheryl, mouth agape. “What is the matter with you?! Polly didn’t kill your brother!” Theo fumed. “And why did you think that? You think a heartbroken girl is gonna kill her ex?” _Why the fuck did I say that?_ He asked himself in silence. He knew that Polly did not kill Jason, but he knew that heartbroken people tend to do things they shouldn’t.

“Yeah! What are you saying, you haven't been heartbroken before?!” Cheryl asked. Theo flinched noticeably at those words. “Aww, did I hurt the wittle boys fweewings?” she mocked. Theo’s face turned the color of Cheryl’s lipstick. “You’re one to talk shit for someone who begged me to dance!” he shot back.

“Eww, gross! I never begged!”

“Your lap dogs would probably disagree with you. ‘Please!’. They looked at you like you were crazy. What was it you wanted with me after the dance Cheryl, huh? What was it actually? Did you want a pity fuck to get over your brother? Is that it?! Did you want to take me back to that party, just so you could have seven or more minutes of heaven just so you can forget everything?!” Theo barked. Cheryl's face was also turning red, but not with embarrassment. She wanted to smack the blood out of Theo. “Aww, did I hurt the wittle girls fweewings?” 

“You sick perv! All I want to do is find out who killed my brother!”

“At the expense of my family’s privacy? Screw that.” Theo said. As if by a divine force, they stood there silent and quietly began to calm down, their cheeks turning back to their normal color. Theo sighed. “Listen, I don’t blame you for wanting to find out who killed your brother, but leave my family out of it please. Okay?” Theo asked. Cheryl nodded her head. “Okay.” she repeated. Theo watched Cheryl as she got in her car, he turned to walk away back to his house instead of Betty’s, until he turned around.

“Hey Cheryl!” he called. Cheryl looked up at Theo.

“I'm… sorry about what I said. I really am.” he said. Cheryl looked at him in surprise, then spoke. “I’m sorry too.” she nodded, and started the Impala’s engine and drove off. Theo watched as she disappeared into the night, hands in his coat pockets.

•••

The crowd and the school band filled the football field with noise as Theo, Justin, and Charlotte sat down on the stands. Over afar, Betty and Veronica were shaking their pom-poms. Theo saw Alice and Hal, Betty and Polly’s parents, walk over toward and sit next to him. Hal and Alice looked at Theo. 

“I never took you for the football game type Theo!” Hal said. Theo chuckled and nodded. “Yeah, well, I wouldn’t have come if it wasn’t for these two.” Theo pointed back at Justin and Charlotte, who in turned waved at Hal and Alice. 

“Now to kick off this pep rally, I’d like to hand it over to our very own Mayor McCoy.” Principal Weatherbee said as this Mayor McCoy, umbrella in her hand, walked over to the microphone. “Thank you, Principal Weatherbee! It is heartening to see so many of you here, even in weather like this. But a lack of heart and school spirit has never been the Riverdale way.” The crowd cheered as she continued. “Tonight’s pep rally isn’t like any other we’ve had in the past, and we shouldn’t pretend that it is. Which is why I would like to dedicate this evening to the memory of one of our brightest, Jason Blossom.”

Alice stifled a laugh and rolled her eyes, which made Theo look at her. He knew she and her husband hated the Blossoms, but never thought she would do such behavior, especially out here with a large crowd.

“Now please, join me in welcoming to the field our very own River Vixens, and their special guest stars, my daughter, Josie and the Pussycats!” The crowd cheered once more and three girls stepped on the stage. Theo looked over at Justin. “Say, isn’t that the band that played at the semiformal?” he asked. Justin nodded. “Sure is!” Theo nodded his head.

As they played, Theo tried his best to dance like Homer from _The Simpsons_. Justin, Charlotte, Alice, and Hal began to laugh as Theo began to sing along. “Sugar, do do do do do do, oh, honey, honey, do do do do do do.” “Yeah Theo, work it!” Charlotte said as she began to dance in her seat, hands up. They all shared a laugh and Theo sat back down, now focusing on the dancing cheerleaders and the band. Theo and the group watched as the cheerleaders began to shake their butts as Veronica walked in the middle. Hal and Alice didn’t look too happy about the sight, but Justin sure did.

“Twerk twerk twerk that ahh.” he whispered to Theo. Theo pushed Justin’s shoulder and they laughed, which caused Hal and Alice, and Charlotte, to look at them with disapproving looks. They stopped after they noticed them not liking whatever they were laughing about. The music stopped and the football coach ran up to the stage and to the mic. “Alright, you all ready? Let’s make some noise for the Riverdale Bulldogs!” They all shot out of their seats and cheered and clapped their hands, however that lasted for a few seconds when they saw Cheryl run off the field. 

Theo, Justin, and Charlotte looked at each other in confusion, and soon Veronica and Betty followed her. Theo got up to follow Betty but Justin and Alice laid their hands on his shoulders, silently urging him to sit down; he did.

•••

The trio entered the old-fashioned diner known as Pop’s Chock’lit Shoppe. “You are going to absolutely love these burgers! They are dee-vine!” Justin said. Charlotte nodded in agreement to Theo. “Especially the milkshakes!” she said. They were going to pick their own table until they saw Veronica and Betty. “Care if we sit here with y’all?” Theo asked. They smiled at the group and scooched over. Soon that was followed by the doorbell ringing and Betty and Veronica looked up, following by Theo and the rest.

Archie Andrews, and a fellow with the strange nickname of Jughead, entered together. Betty looked at everyone for a few seconds and then looked back at them. “Do you guys want to join us?” she asked.

“Yes, but only if you’re treating.” Jughead said. They all laughed and those who didn’t know each other began to introduce themselves and shake hands, or some did at least. Everyone enjoyed themselves that night to burgers and milkshakes, especially Theo, who dug into a burger with fries and a strawberry milkshake.

The next morning, Theo woke up to the sun shining through his window at full force. _Dammit, late again_. He rubbed his eyes and checked his phone. Justin, Charlotte, and Betty texted him a few times, and his mom did, saying he could stay home since he went out late. The time was 12:30 PM. Theo soon got a text from Justin again, which read:

 _Sheriff and principal came in Phylums, Cheryl got arrested_. 

Theo looked at the text and rubbed his eyes again to see if he was dreaming or if he misread it. He did not.


	3. The Return of Rebecca

**CHERYL BLOSSOM GUILTY AS SIN!** The newspaper read. Theo, Justin, and Charlotte looked at the newspaper while sitting in the student lounge. Betty, Archie, Kevin, and Veronica were also there. They all seen the newspaper, except for Theo, who got a copy this morning. “So what all has been said about Cheryl?” Theo asked, looking up. “They said that she heard a gun go off the same morning, that his autopsy showed that he died a week later.” Veronica said. Charlotte shook her head. “I’m telling you guys, something strange is afoot.” she said. Everyone nodded their heads in agreement. “Guys, should we maybe re-binge _Making a Murderer_ on Netflix tonight?” Kevin asked. Betty laughed. “Sorry, can’t, gotta stay late to work on the paper.” she said. “Wish I could but I got a guitar lesson with my dad tonight.”

Theo announced. “No way, you’re wanting to play guitar?” Betty asked. Theo nodded enthusiastically. “You bet! He’s gonna help me out. My dad has a few old acoustics in the basement. He used to play.” “Well that’s great!” Justin said. Everyone gave Theo a small clap and Veronica broke her silence. “Count me out too on Netflix. I got a date tonight.” she said. “You do?” Archie asked. “Which Riverdale hottie made the cut?” Kevin interjected. “Hey, Vee-Lo.” Everyone turned around and saw Chuck Clayton, along with Reggie Mantle and Moose Mason. “I’ll swing by the Pembrooke to pick you up at 8:00?” “I’ll be waiting.” Veronica said. They walked off and everyone turned back to look at Veronica, smiling. “That dumbass?” Justin questioned. “Chuck Clayton?” Betty asked. “You’re going on a date with Chuck?”

Kevin also asked. “He’s kind of a player.” Betty said. “Yeah, he is.” Charlotte agreed. “Who cares? He’s the hottest of hot, and he’s the varsity football coach’s son! In Riverdale, that’s like dating a Kennedy!” Kevin said excitedly. Justin shook his head. “I would call it more like dating a dumbass, but it’s your opinion.” Kevin shook his head at Justin. “Aww come on, I’m pretty sure their date will go fantastic!” Kevin said. That made Veronica smile. “You should go on a date with Theo here, you guys are both new here, you guys relate.” Justin said, patting him on the shoulder. “And with him learning guitar, he could woo his way into your heart.” Theo chuckled, and shook his head. “Oh c’mon Justin, leave us alone.” Justin gave him a pat on the back, laughing all the while. “Besides, I… kinda like someone at the moment.” “You do? Who is it?” Betty asked. Everyone turned to Theo. He shook his head. “Ahh, nobody you guys would know.”

•••

“I’ll be honest, I think I like Cheryl.” Theo said as he walked Betty back home. Betty looked at Theo, her eyes were wide as saucers and looked like they would pop out of her sockets at any moment. “Oh my God, please tell me you’re joking.” Betty asked. Theo shook his head. Betty whistled. “You know what your parents and my parents especially think about her and her family.” Betty said. Theo nodded in disappointment. “Yeah, I know… It’s just… There’s something about her and her winter fire hair.” “There has to be more than that, Theo. My parents said they saw you and Cheryl talking outside.” she said. Theo nodded. “They’re right.” Betty stopped walking which in turn made Theo stop. “What did you guys talk about that night, Theo?” she asked. Theo sighed and looked down. “We got into a fight when she was leaving. She told me she wanted to find out who killed Jason, and I… I know how you felt about her at your house trying to find out if Polly killed him, but… I don’t know, I guess I could sympathize with her in some way,” He threw his hands up and shrugged. “But I told her to leave your family alone.”

Betty nodded. “Well at least you said that, but I don’t think my mom will do the same.” she said. Theo nodded her head in agreement. “Yeah, she stifled a laugh when the mayor talked about Jason.” he said. He turned to look at her. “What happened at the pep rally? Between you, Veronica, and Cheryl?” he asked. Betty sighed again. “She was upset about Jason. Saying she was all alone.” she answered. “Well she is, you know. I would be upset if my sister died.” Theo remarked, even though he hadn’t seen his sister in a few years. He thought about mentioning Polly but he decided to not bring her into the conversation. They arrived at Betty’s house and Betty hugged Theo. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” she said, and she walked up to the door. “Yeah, I’ll see you tomorrow Betty.” he said, and made the trek back home.

Arriving back at his house, he opened the door with his house key and entered the kitchen. His mom, dad, and-

Rebecca.

They all looked at him, especially Rebecca, her blue eyes looking at his surprised pale face. Rebecca looked a lot more different. Her fiery ginger hair was streaked with blonde. She wore all black. Black pants, black shoes, black leather jacket. However, she had no piercings on at all. “Little bro!” she said, and she got up from her seat and ran up and hugged him. Her perfume nearly suffocated Theo, along with her hug. “OhmyGod! You’ve grown so much!” she said. She was right. When they were little, Theo thought her a giant, but now he was a few inches taller than her. Theo didn’t know what to do, other than stand there in silence. He saw his parents, smiling at the sight. Theo slowly began to hug her back, after a few moments of standing in shock.

•••

Theo sat alone in history, shaking his leg. Finished with his work for the day, he had no idea what to think. His sister, who had been in California for a few years, had returned. He was having thoughts about Cheryl, which made it no better because she was seated near him. Right now, there was so much on his mind that he could not relax and read a good book, or listen to music. “Thanks to you, Archie, I’m not the girl who cried gunshot. You believed me when not even my parents did.” Theo could hear Cheryl whispering over to Archie. Theo ignored the conversation and looked out the window with his pencil in his hands.

“I just told the truth.”

“Which is why I want to repay your kindness.”

Theo’s blood began to pump and his heart began to beat a little more faster than it should’ve.

“Cheryl, truly, that’s not why I came forward.”

“Save the ‘Aw shucks’ for Betty.”

His heart began to go faster and his hands began to tremble a bit.

“I’m granting you one wish, Archie.”

Why was he getting so pissed off about Cheryl talking to Archie? Cheryl and Archie were just friends. Besides, he was just starting to like this girl, and didn’t know much about her.

“Nothing is off the table.”

His hands began to shake more and the silence became deafening. His teeth began to grit.

“Except for my body.”

_Snap!_

The sound snapped him out of his world of violence and rage. Cheryl and Archie kept talking but he didn’t listen. He looked down to his hands and saw that he had broken his number two pencil in half. His heart rate began to slow and he slowly stopped shaking. He rolled his eyes and leaned back, the only pencil he had was now snapped. Eventually the bell rung and everybody got their stuff to leave. Theo got up and he looked at Cheryl.

“Hey, uh, Cheryl.” She turned around. 

"You look beau-beautiful today.” he stuttered.

She grinned. “Oh, uh, thanks Theo.” she said, and walked off.

•••

“You idiot, you motherfucking idiot.” Theo said to himself, shaking his head. “‘Beau-beautiful?!’ You stuttered that out you damn pansy!” Theo wanted to jump off a cliff or bury his head in the ground like an ostrich without hesitation. He butchered that by stuttering, he knew he did. He entered his house and slammed the door. “Woah, what’s got you all pissed off?” a female-voice asked. Rebecca was in the living room, watching some reality show. “It’s nothing Becca.” he said. “Oh, still not going to talk to me?” she asked. Theo ignored her and walked upstairs and into his room. He laid his face down in the bed and groaned. He turned on his back and looked up to the ceiling. He cursed to himself once again. Later that evening, he received a message from Betty. He looked up at his phone and read the message:

_Betty: Hey, you wanna help me and V out?_

Strange, he didn’t know why her and Veronica would need help. Reluctantly, he agreed.

_Yeah, sure, I’m down._

••• 

Veronica explained to Theo that the date with Chuck went well, until Chuck posted a picture of her, saying he gave her a sticky maple, whatever the hell that was. Kevin said it was a Riverdale thing. Theo thought it was a nickname for a facial. They met up with Ethel Muggs and entered the high school. This is exactly what Theo needed for some reason. He didn’t like getting in trouble, nor engaging in activities that could get him arrested, but this felt exciting. “Football players behaving badly, what else is new? Steubenville, Glen Ridge, the coach’s son being the ringleader. I mean, how depraved is this town?” Veronica asked. “Color me impressed.” Everybody jumped and turned around at the new voice. Theo thought that was it, a staff member caught them and now they were fucked. Absolutely fucked.

His vision cleared and they saw Cheryl, clad in a red dress, leather jacket, and thigh-high boots standing at the door, flashlight in hand. “A B and E with B and V. What would your holy roller mother say about this, Betty?” Cheryl asked. “What are you doing here Cheryl?”

“And where did you get those thigh-high boots? They’re amazing!” Kevin whispered. “Trev told Valerie, who told Josie, who told Ginger, who told Tina, who told me. And I thought I would help out” Cheryl answered, disregarding Kevin’s question. “Help? Or derail our investigation?” Betty interrogated. Cheryl shined the flashlight at Betty, which blinded her and nearly blinded Theo himself. “Get over yourself Betty.” she said. “Guys, get in here.” a voice said, which belonged to Ethel. Theo went over and saw Ethel take out a book. She opened it.

“Trev was right. They didn’t even bother to hide it.” she said. They shined their flashlight on the page that Ethel was currently on, revealing all the secrets to them. She turned a page, and found a note about Veronica.

_VERONICA (NEW GIRL BONUS +1) = (9)_

Theo grimaced in disgust. “New girl? Is that what I’m reduced to? Nine points?” the devil asked. “Better than ‘big girl’.” Ethel said. “Seven point five.” “Polly’s in this book.” Betty said. Theo searched and saw Polly’s name next-

“Next to Jason’s name.” Cheryl finished. Theo was completely dumbfounded by the discovery. Betty looked away and Veronica and Cheryl looked at her. “I’m so sorry, Betty.” Veronica said. Theo turned his head over at his cousin, who kept looking down at the floor. “This isn’t… Jason would never…” “It’s right there, Cheryl!” Betty turned around and yelled.

Theo shook his head at all the names that were written down. “This is fucked up.” he said. “Your brother hurt my sister! This is what guys like Jason and Chuck think about women! We’re objects for them to abuse and when they’re done with us, they shame us into silence! They have zero remorse for the lives they destroy!” Betty preached like a pastor at church. “Maybe I don’t know Jason.” Cheryl admitted, clearly upset. She turned her flashlight off and walked away from the book slowly. Theo looked over at Cheryl and went to her, and patted her on the back. “I’ll take a picture. We’ll show it to Weatherbee. It’ll be the perfect cover for your exposé, Betty.” Veronica said with a flash coming from her phone. “Yeah, but… these girls deserve justice, don’t you think, Cheryl?” Cheryl looked down at the ground. “You want vengeance?” Cheryl didn’t respond, but Veronica did.

“You wanna go _Full Dark, No Stars_ , Veronica? I’m with you.” Veronica smirked. “And I have a plan.” Betty finished. Ethel gave the playbook to Betty and soon they walked out of the school stealthily, going back through the way they came in. The chilly night air swarmed them. Betty, Kevin, Ethel, and Veronica gathered up and began to walk home. Cheryl’s Impala sat there. “I’m sorry about your brother Cheryl, about what you found out.” Theo said. Cheryl looked down at the grassy ground, her arms crossed. “I still can’t believe it.” she said, shaking her head. Theo noticed that Betty, Kevin, Veronica, and Ethel were walking away, and that left Theo and Cheryl all alone. “You want me to drive you home Cheryl?” Theo asked. Cheryl looked up at Theo, and stayed quiet for a few moments before answering.

“Honestly… I’d like that.” she answered. “Okay, hand me your keys and I’ll take you back. Give me directions too if you don’t mind.” She handed him the keys. “No, I don’t mind. Here.” he took the keys and unlocked the vehicle, opening the door for Cheryl. “Oh! Thanks!” she said, cheering up a little. “You’re welcome! My parents always taught me to treat a lady with respect.” Theo said as he entered the drivers seat. Cheryl blushed a little at that. They left the school and began on the road to Thornhill, the Blossom mansion. “Theo, I just… I can’t believe he would do that to someone. It’s… it’s horrible.” Theo nodded. “It is horrible, I know… I guess sometimes the people we loved don’t tell us everything.” he said. “You know?” she asked, confused. That was an unexpected reaction, Theo thought she would tell him he didn’t know.

“I know we aren’t really on the best of terms… but I have a sister who just came back in my life. She… she left for California a few years ago without even telling me and my parents.” “Oh... wow.” Cheryl said. “Couldn’t you guys find her?” she asked. Theo shook his head. “No… She cut contact with all of us. The police looked for her, but could never find her. We knew she was still alive because we would get mail from her every several months, like almost a year after she sent one.” he answered. “Wow… damn.” she said. For the first time, Theo and Cheryl were actually having a conversation without being at each other's throats. It felt weird to Theo, when you talked to someone who bullied you and your family you normally don’t expect them to relate to you in some way. Life is unexpected, as Early Cuyler from Squidbillies would say.

“I know that your family and my family don’t like each other, but I’d figured I’d do this so you could probably have time to clear your mind… you know?” Cheryl nodded. “Yeah… I needed to clear my head after all this.” Theo wanted to tell her that she was also beautiful, but he refrained from doing so. He didn’t want her to worry about something else, or spoil the time and make it awkward. They arrived at the gates of Thornhill and Theo jumped out, handing it over to Cheryl. Cheryl looked at Theo with a worried look. “Are you sure you can walk back?” she asked. Theo nodded. “Yeah, I’ll be okay.” he answered, although Theo really had his doubts. “Thanks for driving me back home Theo, that really means a lot.” she said, smiling a little. “Anytime.” Theo said. “I better go before my parents kill me.” Cheryl chuckled.

“Yeah me too, bye Theo.” she gave a small wave; he did the same. And walked off as Cheryl passed the gate.

It had been fifteen minutes of walking when Theo finally arrived home. He climbed up to his bedroom window sneakily and closed the sill. He was startled when the light turned on and his mom, dad, and sister stood at the doorway. His parents looked beyond angry. “Where the hell were you?!” his dad asked. Theo shook his head. “Sorry, I was heading out for a jog, I forgot to tell you guys. I got lost.” “That’s a damn lie.” Rebecca said. Theo looked at Rebecca angrily who was smiling. “You know better than to sneak out of this house Theodore Isaac.” his mom said. “Yeah, I know-” “Yeah Theodore Isaac.” Rebecca said.

That was enough for Theo to take, so he went up to Rebecca and pushed her. He must have pushed her too hard because she fell back and hit her head on the wall. His mother gasped in surprise. “HEY GUYS!” his father yelled. “YOU WEREN’T HERE FOR THE PAST FIVE FUCKING YEARS REBECCA, SO WHY DON’T YOU FUCK OFF OUT OF IT?!?!” Theo yelled. Rebecca got up and looked at Theo. After she didn’t say anything, Theo opened his mouth once more. “Why don’t you run back to fucking California?” “Hey Theo!” his parents said in unison. Rebecca’s eyes went wide and before Theo knew it, the palm of her hand made contact with his face with one furious _smack_. She stifled a sob and went back into the guestroom, slamming the door hard. “That’s… that’s enough! Theo, you’re grounded for the week.” his mom said. “Whatever, I don’t give a fuck no more!” Theo said, and slammed and locked the door. This night had been going so well. And now it all went to Hell. 

•••

Theo grabbed his stuff for school and went out the door without saying anything to his parents or his sister. He marched to school with the fury of a thousand suns, and entered the cafeteria. Theo sat down with Betty and the rest of his friends, and unwrapped his chocolate muffin. They looked at Theo and Betty knew something was wrong. “What’s up, Theo?” she asked. After taking a bite out of the muffin and washing it down with milk, Theo looked up. “My parents caught me last night, knew I had sneaked out. So now I’m grounded for the week.” Theo said, leaving the fight with his sister out of the details. “You and me both, Theo.” Archie commented. Theo shook his head. “If it wasn’t for my sister, I wouldn’t be in this mess.” he revealed. He shouldn’t have said that.

“You and Rebecca got into a fight?” Betty asked.

“You have a sister?” the rest of the group said in unison.

“Yeah. I would rather not talk about it.” Theo said. “Anyway, today’s gonna be awesome, I gotta go to that stupid thing tonight at Town Hall. Woohoo.” he cheered in a monotone voice. “I wasn’t going to go up until last night.” “Betty, are you going?” Theo asked. “Actually, me and V have some plans tonight.” Betty and Veronica looked at each other and smiled. “How about you, Justin? Charlotte?” Theo asked. They shook their heads. “I got plans tonight with my family.” Charlotte said. “I got a paper to do tonight.” Justin said. “Anyone else?” Everybody shook their heads. Theo sighed. “Well, I guess it’s just me then.”

And as Theo sat in the family van later that night, looking out the window, he still thought that. After school, there was still a bit of tension at home. Rebecca hadn’t talked to Theo after he got home, and Theo didn’t talk to her. Theo talked only a little to his parents after they got home, and that still continued as they went down the road, towards Town Hall. “Okay, guys, stop this. Theo, you’ve barely said a word to us and your sister, and Rebecca, you’ve barely said a word to Theo.” his mother said. Theo and Rebecca didn’t respond. His father sighed as they parked next to Town Hall. Everyone got out and gathered around. “Alright. Theo, Rebecca, tell each other you’re sorry.” his father said sternly. Theo and Rebecca looked at each other, and Theo started. “Rebecca, I’m sorry for pushing you and saying you should move back to California.” he said. Rebecca nodded. “I’m sorry for butting in and smacking you.” Rebecca said.

“Now hug.”

“Dad-”

“Now!”

Theo and Rebecca groaned and hugged, which only lasted for a second. “Good, now we can go in!” his father said as if nothing happened. They walked inside Town Hall, where, per her duties, Mayor McCoy was making a speech. Theo sat down over at a table reserved for them, while his parents and Rebecca went over to the concessions. He was about to get on his phone until he felt someone tap his arm. He turned around and saw Cheryl. He almost mistaken her for an angel. The ginger bombshell (no pun intended) was wearing a long, formal red dress. Black sandals adorned her feet and her lips were colored the brightest red. Theo had seen her like this regarding her lips and her dress, but this…

This was true beauty.

“Hello there Theo.” she said, smiling. Theo smiled back. Hell, he couldn’t but to. “Well hello there beautiful. You mind telling me your name?” Theo asked, trying his best to flirt. Cheryl giggled. Theo stood up. “I wasn’t expecting you to be here.” Cheryl admitted. “Nor I you.” Theo bragged. They stood and looked around for a second. “You wanna walk?” Theo asked. “Sure, lets!” she answered. And so they began to walk around the tables and the people that stood and moved around them. They were silent on what to talk about and talked here and there about random topics. However, Cheryl broke the ice with their favorite school subject. She was needing to ask the question anyway, and wonder why she didn’t look it up on her phone.

“What was you talking about with Mrs. Haggly the other day? About Stalin being born in America?” she asked. Theo’s eyes lit up. “Oh! I was talking about an alternate history book I was reading, called Joe Steele.” While she didn’t know the term alternate history, she could connect the dots and figure out what Joe Steele was about. Stalin was Russian for Steele, and Joe, of course, was short for Joseph. “So an Americanized Joseph Stalin? Interesting. But what is alternate history?” she asked. “It’s what-if scenarios really. You know, like if Lincoln wasn’t assassinated or if the Axis won World War Two.” he began. “Joe Steele is about if Stalin was born in America and became president.” Cheryl shuddered. One of the Soviet Union’s dictators being president? “Dare I ask what happens?” she asked. “Well, he orders the arrest of four supreme court justices and Charles Coughlin. They’re sent to military courts and executed for treason.” Theo began to explain.

“Huey Long escapes arrest but is assassinated anyway, and eventually establishes labor camps.” “Like the Great Purge.” Cheryl said. Theo nodded in agreement as they walked to another part of Town Hall. “And the worst part: J. Edgar Hoover is basically his right-hand man.” “So an American dictatorship ran by an American Joseph Stalin, with J. Edgar Hoover by his side sounds like a terrifying story.” Cheryl remarked. Theo again nodded in agreement. “Yeah. I haven’t finished it yet but it’s a good book.” Theo and Cheryl began to talk more about the book and about the world's history. Theo talked about Trotsky being the leader of the Soviet Union in the book, and she talked about the Russian Civil War in return. They sat down on the hall steps and continued. “Nazi Germany would never be able to control all of the U.S..” Cheryl said as they began to discuss Wolfenstein: The New Order.

“Oh yeah, I think they could.” Theo disagreed, smiling.

“Oh really?”

“Yeah… for a few decades.”

Cheryl and Theo laughed at that. It was a little history joke to themselves that they could only get. They stopped laughing and looked at each other, until they heard music begin to play in the background. “Oh shit! Josie!” Cheryl exclaimed. Cheryl jumped up soon followed by Theo as the music continued. Theo was soon stopped by his parents and sister. “Son, come with us, we’re leaving.” he said. He didn’t know why they were leaving, but his sister grabbed his arm and led him out of the Town Hall. They entered the family van and left as quickly as they came out of the Hall.

•••

Turns out Alice and Cheryl’s mother, Penelope, had gotten into an argument, which is something that his parents didn’t want to get involved in. He guessed Cheryl didn’t know because she didn’t mention anything about it, or maybe she knew, but decided not to say anything. Cheryl, Betty, Ethel, Veronica, and Theo watched as Chuck Clayton and his cronies left the school. Turns out that plan Betty and Veronica said they had was to expose Chuck by seducing him, which brought his friends down with him. Later on, Theo went with Betty and Cheryl to burn the playbook. Cheryl leaned her head on Theo’s shoulder, and Theo put her arm around her, as they watched it turn into ashes and disappear in a plume of smoke.


	4. Hollyweird

Imagine waking up to find an unwanted surprise. Theo and Rebecca woke up one morning and went downstairs, only to find Sheriff Tom Keller, Kevin’s dad, questioning their parents. They were confused and fearful, and their parents told them to go back upstairs until everything was over. 

When it was over, they called them back downstairs and told them that they were questioned about the death of Jason Blossom. Theo found that offensive because of course, they had nothing to do with it. That was when Rebecca was filled in on the mess of an investigation and the mystery.

In lunch, the group was sitting at their usual place, and Veronica wasn’t very happy about her encounter with Cheryl this morning.

“She said that she was arguing with a Southside Serpent behind Pop’s this morning. She showed me a photo of them as proof.” she said. Theo raised an eyebrow, unlike his fellow friends. “What’s a Southside Serpent?” he asked. Everyone looked at Theo.

“They’re a gang that, by the name, live on the southside of town.” Jughead answered. “Specifically, they’re a biker gang. Thieves and drug dealers.” Kevin added.

“Biker gang? I didn’t think those still existed. Well, aside from Hell’s Angel of course.” Theo said. Justin nodded his head. “Well Theo, welcome to Riverdale, where a bunch of crazy and old bullshit still happens and exists.”

“So are you insulting the drive-in theater, Justin? I thought you liked going there, I’ve seen you and Charlotte there a couple of times.” Jughead asked. Justin shook his head. “No I wasn’t saying that! I mean I love that place!” he defended. “Speaking of, who’s going to the drive-in’s final showing?” Jughead asked.

“Me, Theo, and Charlotte are going.” Justin answered. Theo looked at Justin. “Hold up! I never did agree to going!” Theo exclaimed. Justin gave him a shit-eating smile. “You are now!” Justin said, and everybody chuckled. Theo did too and shrugged. “I wouldn’t mind going to a drive-in theater. It sounds pretty fun.” 

“You should bring Cher-” Betty covered her mouth. 

Justin laughed. “Who’s Cher? Who-” Justin's smile turned to a face of shock and everybody began to stare at Theo. Theo couldn’t help but stare back at everyone. “She better not mean Cheryl Blossom, does she? It better be another Cheryl.” Justin questioned. Theo looked down to the ground, confirming Justin’s suspicions.

“Bro! I told you all about her!” he exclaimed. “Now look at you! Sleeping with the enemy!” Charlotte put a hand on her shoulder. “Listen, I talked to her and-”

“And what?! She turned you to the dark side?!” Justin looked as if he was about to have a stroke. His eyes were shooting deathrays as they bulged out of his head. “Justin, please calm down!” 

“How can I be calm when he’s dating the enemy of the entire sch- no, the entire town?!”

“What is your problem with Cheryl?! There has to be more than she just bullies you!”

Justin calmed down and sighed. He got up from his seat and left the cafeteria. Theo got up and followed Justin out into the hallway and to the vending machines. “Justin, man, what is it?!” Theo appealed. Justin leaned against one of the vending machines that said ‘out of order!’ and he sighed. He crossed his arms.

“The reason why I hold a grudge against Cheryl so much is because of her ancestor,” he announced. Justin leaned beside him to learn more. “Her ancestor, Barnabas Blossom, funded the town, when it was just a settlement. General Pickens led the town at that time, and they attacked the Uktena.”

Theo looked at him. “Who are the Uktena?”

“Native Americans. They lived on this land that we stand on. General Pickens came in with his men and killed all of them, and that’s how Riverdale came to be the way it is today.”

“So, are you part Uktena?” Theo asked.

Justin nodded in confirmation. “Yeah. My great-grandparents and their families lived where the massacre took place. Most of them died. I’ve hated the Pickens Family ever since, and I hate the Blossoms for supporting it.”

“But do you ever wonder if they knew that would happen?” Theo asked.

Justin shrugged. “I wonder sometimes, because this was 100 years after the Trail of Tears and Manifest Destiny, not during it. But then I think sometimes history repeats itself.” 

Theo nodded in agreement. History did repeat itself from time to time. “Well, I was thinking about going with Cheryl to the drive-in, but if you don’t want me to, I won’t.” Justin shook his head. “No, I mean… I’m not your dad or anything, if you want to go with her, go with her I guess. It’s just you know how I feel about her.”

“So you’re trying to guilt me to not go with her?”

“No, it’s not that! I mean-” Justin sighed, and he put his arm on Theo’s shoulder. “Just… If you want to take her out to the movies, go for it. You might see something in her I don’t. You know how I feel about her, but I’m not gonna let that get in the way.” Justin said.

Theo nodded. “Okay.” he looked down for a moment and shot his head back up. “I’ll head with you guys to the drive-in, since you mentioned it.

Justin smiled. “Great. Will you bring Cheryl?”

Theo shrugged. “I might.”

••

The Trio exited the school after the day was done and stopped at the sidewalk, talking about their plans. “So what movie is playing?” Charlotte asked. 

“ _Rebel Without a Cause_.” Justin answered. 

“Isn’t that like one of those greaser movies?” Theo asked. Justin nodded. “Yeah. I’ve seen bits and pieces of it when I was in middle school. It looks good.”

They resumed walking down the sidewalk until Theo saw Rebecca, standing there in a leather jacket. Charlotte and Justin looked at Rebecca.

“I didn’t know your sister was a badass.” Justin said. Charlotte and Theo chuckled. “Well, she kinda is. I’m sure she’s just wearing that to intimidate y’all.”

Justin raised an eyebrow. “Why would she do that?”

“For shits and giggles.” Theo answered.

“Anyway, I gotta go. I’ll catch y’all at the movies.” they said their goodbyes and Theo ran up to Rebecca, so as not to keep her waiting. “Friends of yours I assume?” she asked. Theo chuckled and nodded. “Yep. That’s them.” he said. Rebecca also chuckled. “Yeah, I heard your buddy call me a badass with this on.” she said. 

“Yeah. We got into a fight today.” Theo admitted. Rebecca looked at Theo. “About what? You guys seemed okay.” she said. Theo nodded. “Yeah, we’re fine. But we got into it over Cheryl, the girl I like but he doesn't.”

“Ohh.” Rebecca knew the situation about Theo and Cheryl. Theo had admitted to his parents during the weekend about his whereabouts the night he stayed out late to take her home, not mentioning the break-in at the high school. His parents were unsurprised, since that’s what they used to do back when they were in love with each other in high school, however with today’s issues of rapists, serial killers, and kidnappers, they were still a little upset because he could’ve ended up encountering one of the three.

That weekend, Theo and Rebecca healed their relationship, and he told her what he had been up to since moving to this small town. So she knew everything about what was currently happening. 

Almost everything of course.

“Betty accidentally said her name while at lunch and he got pissed. We talked and he said he doesn’t like her because her family hired someone to kill the tribe he’s descended from. They used to live here until that.” 

“Makes sense. Why did Betty mention her name?”

“Because the drive-in theater here is going to close down and everyone is wanting to go to the last showing.” Theo answered. Rebecca smiled. “Ohh. So are you gonna do it?” she asked.

“Take Cheryl out? I don’t know, I don’t wanna piss him off. He said it was fine but I have my doubts.” he answered. “Yeah, I don’t blame you for having your doubts.”

“What do you think I should do Becca?” 

“Just go with your friends.”

Theo nodded. “That’s what I was thinking.” 

••

“Okay,” Theo’s dad began, standing in front of Theo, who was leaning against the truck drivers door. “I’m gonna let you fly a bit. You are to have this truck back by eleven o’clock, not eleven o’one, not eleven ten, eleven!

“If I catch anything in this truck, that means beer bottles, condoms, whatever, you’re grounded and you aren’t gonna take the truck anywhere for whatever reason ever.”

Theo sighed and nodded, annoyed. “Yeah dad, I know, you told me several times.”

His dad sighed too, and put his arm around him. “I know I’ve told you that a lot. I just want you to be careful. Especially after that night you took that girl out, you can’t be driving that long a distance, even if this is a small town.” he said.

Theo nodded. “I’ll be careful dad.”

“I’m sorry Mr. Marshall but we really need to get going.” Justin said from the passenger door. His dad nodded. “Right. I’ll see you later buddy.”

“Yeah, see you too dad.” Theo said, and he got into the truck along with Justin and Charlotte. Theo backed the truck out, which was an old, rusted 60s Ford, and began to drive to the drive-in

Albeit at a small speed.

“So, you guys ready for tonight?” Justin asked. Theo nodded, and Charlotte did excitedly. “Hell yeah! You know it!” 

Justin chuckled. “Yeah, you’re a bit too enthusiastic about tonight.” he said. “Hey! Can you blame me?” she asked, and Justin shook his head. “I guess not.

“So, is Cheryl tagging along?” Justin asked. Theo shook his head. “No, I figured I’d just go with you guys if that was okay.” he said. “Yeah, that’s okay. You could’ve invited her. I said you could.”

“Yeah, but I had my doubts.” Theo admitted.

Justin opened his mouth like he was going to say something, but he closed it. “Yeah, I can… understand that.” he said. “I think she’s supposed to come anyway. That’s what I’ve heard around school.” Charlotte said. 

“Well that’ll work.” Justin admitted.

They pulled in to the Twilight Drive-In, and Theo smiled and said a quote from _Squidbillies_ in a half-ass Early Cuyler voice.

“C’mon y’all, c’mon, step right into the movies. Yes, see what Hollyweird has cooked up next!” he said, and laughed. Justin and Charlotte gave him a weird look and couldn’t help but laugh a bit too. Justin shook his head. “I don’t know where you get those weird ass sayings from, but I swear.” Charlotte giggled. 

“Yeah, they are weird, but they’re funny.” Theo said in a normal voice. Theo stopped the truck at a good spot where they could see the screen, and Theo and his friends got out of the truck to set everything up for their big movie night.

Suddenly the sound of motorcycles began to fill the air. Those said motorcycles passed the truck up, holding men and women clad in leather jackets with a snake on the back.

“There they are. Southside Serpents.” Justin said. Theo looked at them, although he tried to hide it. “Dang. they don’t look nice.” Theo said. 

“They aren’t.” Justin added.

“Guys, quit talking and help me out with this.” Charlotte said, holding a big bundle of blankets that nearly covered her entire body. Justin ran up to her. “Shit! Yeah, sorry!” Justin said, and Theo ran alongside him. They set up the blankets on the bed so their seat, being the bed of the truck, wouldn’t be too uncomfortable. They also brought some pillows to lay their heads on, and smuggled a few snacks in.

The movie began and they sat there, covered up as it played. About several minutes in, a familiar convertible appeared and driving it, a familiar redhead. Cheryl got out of the car. “Make some room, outcasts.” she said, climbing on the side of the truck and sitting beside Theo. They all look at Cheryl with a strange look. 

“Can you explain what you are doing here?” Justin asked.

“What? I thought I could sit over here with you guys. Take it as a compliment from the popular girl.” she said. Justin nodded, but unbeknownst to Cheryl and Theo, Justin pointed and nodded at Theo to Charlotte, who knew well that wasn’t the reason she was sitting here.

“I like movies about greasers,” Theo said. “You know, in middle school, I was obsessed with _Grease_.”

“Jason loved the drive-in. Although musicals weren’t his thing.” Cheryl said. “I love _Grease_. I wish we were watching it.”

“Yeah, me too. Heck, I feel like Danny Zuko sitting with Sandy right now.” he admitted. Cheryl laughed. “Yeah, I can’t help but feel like Sandy right now.” she said. Theo sneakily put his arm around Cheryl, who turned her to look at him. She smiled.

“Y-you don’t mind if I-”

“Does this answer your question?” she whispered back as she laid her head on his shoulder. Like the time he and Cheryl were talking at town hall, this felt like a dream. If it was, he didn’t want to ever wake up. The girl he liked laying her head on him, her sweet perfume going into his nostrils, it just wasn’t complete without-

Theo felt a warm, soft hand rubbing his jean-covered thigh. He looked over at Cheryl, who was looking up at him with those brown eyes. Theo leaned his head closer to her, and she did the same.

The kiss wasn’t exactly heavenly as Theo was expecting, but it wasn’t average either. The taste of Cheryl’s lipstick filled Theo’s mouth. The kiss itself lasted for about five seconds and they disconnected. Theo’s heart was pumping real fast that he was afraid it would explode out of his chest and onto the sheets and the bed of the truck.

“You know, we could go somewhere more private if you want.” she whispered. At that, Theo’s blood began to run down to that certain place between his legs, and his cheeks reddened. “Yeah, we can.” he whispered back.

He turned to Justin and Charlotte, who were still watching the movie. “Hey guys, me and Cheryl are gonna get some snacks.” he said. “Okay, don’t be long.” Justin said, and he nodded.

Theo and Cheryl got out of the truck and Cheryl led them over to a spot of the Drive-In where nobody could see them. Theo’s hormones were raging, however raging would be an understatement. As soon as they were out of sight, Theo ran up to Cheryl, she turned around in surprise as Theo hooked her arms around her body and picked her up like Hulk picking up a car. 

She wrapped her legs around his waist as they began to make out. Their tongues touching one another. Theo’s hands soon went down to her derriere, which he gave a squeeze. She moaned but stopped kissing him and smirked devilishly. “A little touchy, are you?” she asked.

“Sorry, I got-”

She pushed his hands off her. “Carried away? Oh don’t worry.”

She pushed him against the wall and bit his ear. Theo groaned as she licked and nibbled at his earlobe. She stopped and whispered in his ear.

“Sometimes I get carried away too.”

Theo felt his jeans reach their maximum tightness as he buried his head in her neck, kissing it and searching for that sweet spot. She began to moan as his hands once again went back to that sweet butt that Cheryl had, and gave it one squeeze, and then more. It was almost like he was worshipping it.

Theo must’ve found the sweet spot on her neck because she moaned loudly and scratched his back in utter pleasure. “Keep going.” she said as she bit her lip. He obeyed her for a few seconds and then went back to her plump red lips, french kissing her.

Theo kept up his actions as he turned around and had her against the wall. While sexual intercourse wasn’t on the table, that didn’t mean foreplay wasn’t. However, Theo had never been in a girl’s shirt, nor had he been in her pants. If what they were doing now led to another, then it would be his first time. However, the realization came to him that he told Justin that he wouldn’t be long. But then again, this was the girl he liked, but then again…

“Are you okay Theo?” Cheryl asked. Theo, while stuck in his thoughts, had pulled away from the kiss and was looking away. He shook his head. “Yeah, I’m sorry, it’s… just that I told Justin I’d be back and shit, y’know?” he said. Cheryl nodded. “I understand, but I think they are up to their own thing.” she said and pointed back to the truck.

While nobody could see them from where they were, you could still see the vehicles and everyone else who was watching the movie. Over at the truck, Justin and Charlotte were sharing a slow, passionate kiss.

“Yeah, you’re right.” Theo said. Theo and Cheryl looked at the sight for a few seconds before looking at each other. “Is it alright if I ask a question?” Theo asked.

“Shoot _monsieur_.” she answered. Theo put his hands in his pocket. “I know that we have our differences and we… I don’t know what we think about each other honestly after all… this.” he said, holding out his arms to the landscape for emphasis.

“And you’re wondering if I’ll go out with you, right?”

“Yeah, right.”

Cheryl sighed, and put her hands on her hips, looking down. “Well… I don’t know about being boyfriend and girlfriend, with everything going on…” she looked up. “But, I think we can be make-out buddies, if that’s okay with you?”

“Make-out buddies?” Theo asked, his eyebrow raising.

“Why not?” Cheryl asked, putting her hand on his chest.

“I don’t-” Cheryl interrupted Theo by kissing his lips.

“Maybe we can.” Theo said, smiling a bit. Their lips reconnected again and they went back with what they were doing.

“Hey, lover boy, lover girl, beat it.” a male voice said. Theo thought at first it was a security guard, but he was wrong. He saw a man, about the same age as his dad, black hair and goatee with a stubble, wearing a leather jacket, and a woman, wearing a jacket his mother would typically wear. _Southside Serpent_ Theo thought as he looked at the man. “Yeah, sure.” He wanted to call that a fuckhead or something else but he didn’t feel like dying tonight.

“Hey guys, sorry to interrupt.” Theo said. Justin and Charlotte jumped and broke their kiss. “Yeah, our session got interrupted too.” Cheryl added.

Theo and Cheryl got back on the bed of the truck and finished the movie.

••

After the movie was over, Theo and Rebecca found out a shocking discovery. Archie Andrews had been having a secret relationship with Ms. Grundy, the music teacher at Riverdale High. Betty and Veronica had been investigating her for a couple of days after finding that out from Archie.

For personal lives, Justin and Charlotte weren't actually dating, however, Theo heard it being discussed from them. He knew they liked each other. Theo was actually talking about that with Cheryl when she came to “study”, and work on a eulogy for her late brother.

“My parents have treated me like absolute shit since Jason died. I’m sure they won’t be too happy about the eulogy either.” Cheryl said. “No offense but they sound like assholes.” Theo said. Cheryl nodded her head. “None taken. Believe me, they are.” 

The bedroom door opened and Theo’s mom stood with a basket full of laundry. They turned and looked at her. “Just checking on you guys. Making sure everything is okay.” she said. “Yeah everything’s cool mom.” Theo said. She smiled and closed the door.

Cheryl turned Theo’s face around and they began to kiss again. She stopped. “We better get to making out before it gets late.” she said.


	5. Story of a Girl

“The War of 1812, when did the War of 1812 start?” Mrs. Haggly said as she wrote those words down on the board. A few students laughed at the joke, however Theo only smiled. Theo had a lot of interests in history, however, he wasn’t interested in the War of 1812, or anything up until the wars he knew little of. Unfortunately, this was U.S. history, not world history, so all the wars in Asia and Europe would have to be something he would need to read on Wikipedia.

A vibration came from his pocket, and Theo got out his cellphone to see a text from Cheryl.

 _Cheryl: It happened in 1738, they just called it that because they felt like it_ 🙄

Air left Theo’s nose as he stifled a chuckle. Cheryl had her usual ways of being sarcastic. Theo was too at times but not as much as her. After the night at the now-defunct Twilight Drive-In, the relationship between Cheryl and Theo had been an odd one, even if it hadn’t started until that night. Nobody didn’t know about their relationship, not even Betty, except Justin and Charlotte, however they were having to dodge rumors from students who would come up to them and ask. Theo and Cheryl were NEVER seen together during school hours, as such a thing would be scandalous in the teenage social hierarchy.

Speaking of Justin and Charlotte, they were also having to sort out and explain what happened that night. Veronica and Kevin were parked not too far from the couple, and had pestered them about their passionate kissing. That attracted the attention of Archie, Betty, and Jughead, and now, with the exception of Theo, the group kept asking the question: “Were they an item?”

Today didn’t seem like that would happen however, as when lunch rolled around, they were nowhere to be seen, which was more than surprising. Charlotte and Justin were here today. However, Theo only seemed to notice that because everyone else was focused on Betty’s date with Trev Brown, the boy Betty had got information from about Chuck and that playbook.

“Betty, you’re positively radiating Nicholas Sparks,” Veronica said as her, Betty, Kevin, Theo, and Jughead were walking down the football field bleachers to meet Archie. “Tell me everything about this Trev.” “Oh, there’s nothing to tell.” Kevin interjected. “Just one of Betty’s sources, there’s nothing romantic in the offing.” 

Theo chuckled as he sat down.”Oh yeah, nothing romantic.” he teased. “Why is everything weird here? Why can’t a date just be a date?” Veronica asked. “What about you, Archie. How’s life in a PG world?”

Archie looked up from his notebook and looked at Veronica with his eyebrow raised. “‘PG’?” he asked. “PG. Post-Grundy.” Veronica answered. When nobody didn’t say anything, Veronica shrugged. “What, too soon?”

“Yeah dumbass.” Theo muttered. Veronica turned around and gazed at Theo. “‘What too soon? Oh look at me I’m rich and I’m eating fries!’” he mocked. Veronica scowled and gave him the bird while Betty smiled and rolled her eyes. “Coach Clayton says I have a shot at being varsity captain, so I’m not thinking about anything else right now.” Archie said as he turned back to his notebook.

“And you’re back to being boring.” Veronica said.

“And whose fault is that?” Theo asked. Veronica turned around and threw a fry at Theo, which he caught. “Shut up and eat a fry.” she said.

“Are you maybe, throwing yourself into football as a way to avoid your feelings?” Betty asked with sympathy. “I’m not avoiding anything, Betty. I’m trying to get my life back on track.” Archie answered.

“I can help with that!” a female voice said. Big poofy hair popped up in Theo’s vision and he saw that it was none other than Valerie Brown. She sat beside Archie. “I know Ms. Grundy was tutoring you-”

“Understatement of the year.”

“-But there’s this amazing songwriter from New York, he’s an adjunct at Carson College? Incredible mentor, he does some coaching on the side and I told him about you, you wanna meet him?” she asked.

“Yeah, I’d love to, but football-”

Betty and Theo slapped him on the shoulder and back respectively at the same time. “No dude, go for it!” Theo said. “No, Archie can, and he will.” Betty said. Valerie smiled. “Call him if you want but do it soon.” she put a piece of notebook paper in his coat pocket. “His spots fill up fast.” 

“Thank you, Val.” Archie nodded. She smiled and walked away. After she was out of earshot, Theo looked at Archie. “Now there’s a girl you can date.” Theo said. “Yeah, and you have zero excuse for avoiding music.” Betty interjected.

“Sorry to interrupt, Sad Breakfast Club,” came the voice of Cheryl as she walked towards the group. “But I’m here to formally invite you to Jason’s memorial at Thornhill this weekend.” She said as she handed out black envelopes to Archie, Betty (surprisingly), and-

Theo? He barely even knew Cheryl and her family, and he was being invited? He must’ve been dreaming. “Well, go on and take it!” Cheryl said. Theo shook his head, leaving his fantasy world. “Yeah thanks, sorry ‘bout that.” Theo said. Cheryl then handed an envelope out to Veronica. 

“To my surprise and chagrin, mother added you to the guest-list. In case you’re tempted to steal our silver candlesticks, don’t. We’ll be searching bags.” she said in her normal bitchy voice, and walked away. Betty turned and looked at Veronica. “Hey, remember, she is burying her brother.”

“I’ll be back.” Veronica said as she got up from the bleachers and walked off. As they watched her walk off, Theo spoke up.

“So are we going to pretend that Charlotte and Justin don’t exist?” 

•••

Something was definitely going on with Justin and Charlotte. Theo had tried his best to get into contact with both of them, however to no avail. They were here earlier, so what the hell happened? Did they just disappear off the face of the planet? Did aliens abduct them? He shook his head.

He saw Cheryl taking and putting things in her locker, wearing her cheerleading outfit. She held her purse in her other arm, as he saw. He smiled to himself and blushed. She looked beautiful as always. “Are you wearing that for me?” he asked. Cheryl turned around and smiled. “You wish, geek.” she chuckled. Theo also chuckled and wrapped his arms around her. She turned her head and they shared a passionate kiss. They separated and Theo leaned his shoulder against the wall.

“I wasn’t expecting you to invite me to your brother’s memorial.” he said. She closed the locker and looked at Theo. “Yeah… I told my parents about you a bit. I had to stretch the truth a bit.”

“Yeah, because they don’t want to know what I said… Or what we do when no ones looking.” Theo said, giving his best flirtatious smirk. She rolled her eyes. “You know, you’re really hormonal for someone your age.” 

“And you ain’t? Ha!” Theo guffawed. Cheryl smiled and shook her head. “Well, can you blame me? You’re practically undressing me with your eyes!” she exclaimed.

“Lower your damn voice, you want everybody to know my secret?” Theo joked. She laughed, and looked down at the floor. “You know, I needed that.” she looked back up with a solemn look. “What’s been wrong?” Theo gave Cheryl a look of sympathy. “I’ll tell you on the way outside.” she said, and they began to walk.

“I… had a nightmare about Jason last night. I fell asleep in his room in his bed.” she began. “Mother heard me and came in. You know the eulogy I was making for him?” 

“Yeah, what about it?” Theo asked. Cheryl sniffled. “She ripped it up.” a tear fell down her cheek. “She said, ‘God knows what you’d say’ and just crumbled it up.” she stopped and turned around to look at him, more tears streaming down her flushed face. Theo reach out to her and caressed her red cheek, using a thumb to wipe away at a tear. She shook her head and gently pushed his hand away. “Please. Don’t.” she said.

As it had been known to both of them, they were not really on good terms, even if they were semi-friends with benefits, but at this moment, Cheryl was looking like a tortured soul. Theo cared for people he was friends with, and he cared for her.

“Y’know, you can talk about it. That is if you want to.” Theo said. Cheryl nodded. “I know, I… I need to be alone for a while, if that’s okay.” she said. He nodded in agreement, and she turned and left.

When Theo returned home, he picked up his guitar. A few weeks of practicing and he was getting a hang of everything. No, almost everything.

He sat down on his bed and thought for a minute of a song to play. Then, he thought of a song that would go well with what happened earlier. He cleared his throat, put his fingers on the respective strings, and began to play.

_This is the story of a girl_

_Who cried a river and drowned the whole world_

_While she looks so sad in photographs_

_I absolutely love her_

_When she smiles_

While he was good at the guitar, he was not good with vocals. However, he continued to play along the best way he could. Later, he got a knock on the door that made him jump, and in came Justin, still in the same clothes he was in before disappearing.

“Where the hell were you, man?!” Theo said as he laid the guitar down on the bed. “I tried to get a hold of you and Charlotte and you never answered!” Justin raised his hand. “I’m sorry, me and Charlotte left to… think about some things.” he confessed. Theo raised an eyebrow.

“What do you mean ‘think about some things’?”

“I mean… me and Charlotte have known each other for a while, and we’ve been through thick and thin, and we both don’t know about what the hell we were doing. I like her, and she likes me, but she’s afraid that if we break up, we’ll stop being friends.” Justin continued. Theo nodded in understanding. He knew what Justin was going through, and unfortunately, he knew the feeling all too well.

“And have you thought about it?” Theo asked. Justin shook his head. “I have but I don’t know what to do. I don’t-”

“Ask her what she thinks. That’s what I would do.” Theo said. Justin nodded. “You really think so?”

“Well yeah, I think you should know her opinion too.” Justin nodded in agreement. “Thanks man.” he said.

“No problem,” Theo said. “And I’d appreciate it if you don’t give me a heart attack next time.”

•••

In neighboring Greendale, Rebecca and Theo were at Cerberus Books, a place that Rebecca had frequented since coming to Riverdale. While Theo himself liked books, the store looked like it sold books that he would deem uninteresting, such as little known books series or the usual 1980s romance books that had the topless hunk on the cover.

“I don’t see how you like this place,” Theo said as he put down yet another book. “These books don’t look too good.” 

“I think they look good.” Rebecca disagreed. “You’re just not like me.” Theo scoffed. “Becca, you’re the one who got me into all the 2000s music, which in turn got me into emo girls and the like.” Theo said. Rebecca laughed. “And what does that have to do with this?” she asked.

“Because I’m like you in a way. I wear band tees and dark clothing and listen-, you get my point.”

She laughed again. “Yeah, I guess I do.” she grabbed one last book from a shelf and went over to the checkout. The cashier rang her up and they were out the door. Theo wasn’t looking and accidentally bumped into a blonde-headed girl. “Oh damn, I’m sorry.” he said.

“You’re fine!” she replied and kept walking.

Theo turned his head back around and saw Rebecca looking at him. “Good job flirting.” she teased. Theo gave her the bird in response and they got back in the truck that he had driven down to Greendale.

“Screw off, you know I like Cheryl.”

“Oh yes, your one true wuff.” she mocked. Theo scowled. “Damn, is it that time of the month for you to be a bitch?” he asked. Rebecca gave him an offended look. “You’re the bitch.” she said.

“No you are!”

“Am not!”

“Are too.”

“Just shut up and drive.” she ordered. Theo began the truck and began the journey back home. A few miles away from Riverdale, Rebecca broke the silence.

“You know I want to get our relationship back on track, right?” she asked. Theo nodded. “Yeah, I know. I was only joking-”

“I know you were joking with me back there but I really do want to fix what we had.” Rebecca said. “I left you and mom and dad without telling you guys goodbye and I left you without a big sister.” she confessed. “I fucked up after I hitched to Cali. I wanted to come back home but I didn’t know how.”

“Is that why you sent those letters?” Theo asked. She nodded. “Yeah. But I also wanted you guys to know I was okay.” she said. “Mom and dad told me about what you went through in middle school with-”

“You can stop there. I know what you’re gonna say.” Theo interrupted. Rebecca nodded. “And that’s why I feel guilty. That’s why I want to fix everything between us. I left you when you need me most, little bro.”

 _Little bro_. She hadn’t called him that in a while. Theo shook his head. “It’s okay Rebecca. You didn’t know.”

She shook her head. “No it’s not.”

•••

The day of the memorial came and Theo was outside of the massive Thornhill mansion. Theo admired the way the house looked, and wondered where exactly Cheryl was in the house. He promised her when they last talked he would be there for her, just in case she became upset again. 

He saw Mrs. Blossom standing at the doorway, greeting everybody as they came in. He walked up to her and shook her hand. She made Theo unnerved as she looked at him. “I’m Theo Marshall, Cheryl’s friend. I’m sorry about your loss.” he said. She nodded. “Thank you Theo… Cheryl has told me much about you. Are you related to Robert Marshall by any chance?”

That was his father. He nodded. “Yes ma’am. He’s my dad.” he confirmed. She smiled. “I thought so. I see so much of you in him. How is he? I have not heard much about him since he left.”

“He’s alright ma’am. He works as a mechanic at his own business. He started up here recently.”

She nodded. “I’ve heard gossip that he was back in town with a child. Well, when you go back home, please tell him Penelope said hi.” she grinned. Theo nodded. “Yes ma’am, I will.”

Theo walked inside the ginormous home and found a spot beside Betty. Jughead, surprisingly, came along with Betty. So did Valerie, who was sitting beside Archie. “Her mom gives me the creeps.” Theo whispered to Betty. She turned her head and leaned over to Theo “It’s her sons memorial, Theo. I’m pretty sure she’s gonna make people unnerved.”

“I don’t know Betty,” Jughead said. “She’s always like that.”

Archie eventually got up with what appeared to be a football shirt in his hand. Speaking of the devil, Penelope Blossom was entering the house as he approached her. “I’m sorry for your loss, Mrs. Blossom,” he said. “This was Jason’s. I thought you’d want to have it.”

Penelope kept looking at Archie without saying anything. She then raised a hand and began to touch his hair. “You’re so much like him.” she said. By now, the entire group was looking at them, and out of the group, Theo was letting his absolute horror known. What the hell was going on?

She retracted her hand. “Oh, I’m sorry. Thank you, Archibald.” she said, and got the football jersey. Archie sat back down. “Did she just touch your hair?” Kevin asked. “What you did, that was sweet.” Betty said. “She deserves it more than I do.” Archie said.

Veronica, who had spent the night with Cheryl, from what Theo had heard, sat a seat above Archie. “Days like today really put things into perspective, huh?” she asked. Theo nodded. “Yeah, I guess they do.” Theo said. Veronica gave him a weird look. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” she said.

“Yeah. Cheryl’s mom is giving me a weird vibe. Also, she just touched Archie's hair. So I’m a bit scarred.” Theo said. Veronica smiled. “Well, at least we’re here. At least we’re alive.” 

After sitting around for a few more seconds, everyone turned around and saw Cheryl, dressed in all white like an angel, walking towards the casket that held her late brother. She walked behind the podium and said: “Welcome to Thornhill. Thank you all for coming to my brother’s memorial. If you’ll kindly take your seats.” she motioned a hand, more than likely aimed at her mom and dad; they, along with a few people in the back, sat down.

“I’d like to start the memorial with a few words about Jason.”

Her mother almost stood up but she was stopped. However, Theo tried to pay attention to her, instead of her parents or his friends. 

“The last time I saw Jason was in this dress. I know it’s impossible, but when I wear this dress, it feels like he’s with me.” She looked at the portrait. “Although we were twins, I used to demand I have my own birthday party. Until one year, out of the blue, he convinced me that we combined our birthday parties. It wasn’t until years later that I found out why.” her voice began to become shaky and break. “It was because no one wanted to come to mine,” she looked at her parents. “And he didn’t want me to know. He protected me. Every single day.”

She said those last words with a sob. Theo saw she was beginning to break like a porcelain doll. Theo’s heart soon began to speed up its beats and his throat somewhat tightened.

 _Get off your ass and help her_ . The voice in his head demanded. Theo mentally shook his head. _No, I can’t do that_.

“I wish on that day at the river, I protected him.”

_Of course you can, go and help her. Who cares about all these people._

She began to sob and ran up to Jason’s casket. “I’m so sorry, Jay-Jay.” she said. “We failed you. All of us.”

Veronica soon got up and walked towards Cheryl.

_YOU AUTISTIC DUMBASS! GET OFF YOUR ASS AND HELP HER!_

“Theo, are you okay?” 

The thought in his head stopped as Betty laid her hand at his fist, which he slowly unclenched. Theo shook his head rapidly. “Yeah yeah, I’m… fine.”

Her mother soon came up to the podium. “I think we’ll adjourn now to the Winter Salon for a light supper.”

As everyone made their way to the Salon, Theo made his way to Cheryl, who was sitting in the very front. She looked at him, tears in her eyes. “I’m so sorry Cheryl.”

Without a word, Cheryl hugged Theo in a vise-like grip. He hugged her back in response, patting her back as she sobbed a bit into his suit. “It’s okay… I’m here.” he shushed her like his mom and dad would’ve done when he was a child. 

“Excuse me Mr. Marshall, but I need to speak to Cheryl.” Penelope said as she and her husband approached them. Cheryl raised her head from his shoulder. “But mom…”

“Now!” she hissed, grabbing her arm and pulling her out of the room. Mr. Blossom and Theo saw as Penelope dragged Cheryl upstairs. Cheryl looked back at Theo like a child being stolen away from her parents. He wished he could do something but he didn’t want to start a scene with her parents in front of God and everyone. When they left, Mr. Blossom looked at Theo.

“Well, Mr. Marshall. I hope you enjoy the food here. I’m sorry you had to witness that.” he said. Theo remained quiet as he looked at Cheryl’s father. “I would tell you your visit has ended but it would seem you have some family here.” he scowled. Theo grimaced as he shook his hand. “And please, tell your dad I said hello.”

He walked away, leaving Theo awkwardly standing there, alone and shaken.


	6. It Ain't Me, Babe

“Alright Theo, what will you be singing?” Kevin asked as Theo stood on the stage with his guitar. Theo had chosen, maybe poorly, that he would perform at the Variety Show that was being held in Riverdale. He was nervous and hadn’t sung or played guitar in front of anybody.

Actually, he did sing once in kindergarten.

God almighty, did it go horribly.

He held the microphone. “I’ll be singing ‘Folsom Prison Blues’ by Johnny Cash.” he answered. Kevin nodded. “Okay, let’s see what you got.” he said. Theo nodded, and he began to play, and his mouth opened.

_I hear the train a-comin’_

_It’s rollin’ ‘round the bend_

_And I ain’t seen the sunshine_

_Since I don’t know when_

He continued to play and sing. Although his voice broke on a few lines, he did good, or at least he thought he did. Kevin nodded and scribbled something on the paper in front of him. “Good job Theo. We’ll see you at the show.” he said. Theo nodded. “Thank you.” he said, and left the stage. As he was walking down, he saw Charlotte and Justin standing at the doorway. “That was good playing. I’m not a huge fan of country music but that was good!” Justin said.

“Yeah, I agree. That was good!” Charlotte also said. “Thanks guys!” Theo said. “Was I actually good with vocals?”

“You weren’t good, but you weren’t too bad either.” Charlotte said. “Your voice could use some work.” Theo nodded. “Well, thank you for being honest.” he said. 

Later at lunch, Theo walked over to the Table that the group was sitting at. “What’s chillin’ my villains?!” Theo yelled. They turned around. “I’m pretty sure no one says that, Theo.” Veronica said. “Well I got some bad news for you sunshine, I say it and I don’t give a damn what other people think.” he announced.

“Classic Theo Marshall.” Jughead said. “Always saying something that no one else says.” 

“And you do the same Jughead, and you know it.” he said as he sat down. “So, what are we talking about?” 

“Me and Jughead are going to see Polly.” Betty said, which nearly made Theo choke on his burger. “Say what?!” he exclaimed. “You’re telling me that-”

“Yep, me and Jug.” Betty grinned.

“Hey, would it be fine if I come with you guys?” Theo asked. Jughead shook his head. “It’s not that type of thing, it’s a black ops mission.” he said. Theo groaned. “For real?”

“Yeah, but we don’t need to bring anymore people, Theo. If we go in with three or more people, all of us will get caught.”

“I actually just now asked.” Archie said.

Theo sighed. “Well… alright, but tell Polly I said hi.” Theo said.

_Speaking of telling people hi..._

•••

“Hey dad, do you know the Blossoms?” Theo asked when he got home. His dad gave Theo a weird look. “Of course I do! Why do you ask?”

“Well, Penelope and Clifford said hi.”

His dad stopped working on a small device and he looked at Theo. “Hold on boy, where did you see Penelope and… Clifford at? The funeral?”

Theo nodded. “Yeah, Penelope said I looked much like you.” 

His dad sighed and shook his head. “Don’t bring this up with your mother. Especially her, she hates Penelope.” he said. “C’mere.”

Theo came over to his dad as he resumed work on the device. “When I lived in Riverdale and went to school here. Me and Penelope had a little… thing going on between us. Something we kept secret.” his dad began. “You see, Penelope was adopted by the Blossoms to be Clifford’s sister, and eventually, wife. Before she became so focused and determined to be his wife, she had a little rebellion.

“I used to be friends with Clifford and Penelope back then, back before everything went down the drain from there. Me and him played sports together and Penelope used to come out and watch us play. Your mom was a cheerleader, and in a way, Penelope’s rival. Penelope was a bit jealous of her, because she was at the time more into Clifford than me.”

“Yeah, I remember that little bracefaced bitch.” a female voice said. Theo and his dad turned around and saw his mom standing there with laundry. “And I remember that little dickhead Clifford too. Worst mistake I’ve ever made was liking that bastard.”

“And the worst mistake I made liking Penelope.” his dad said. His mother approached the two of them. “What are you guys talking about?”

“Penelope and Clifford Blossom told me to tell dad hi.” Theo admitted, expected a scolding from his dad. However his dad didn’t say anything. His mom nodded. “Alright. Well, you tell Theo the story, and I’ll leave. I don’t want to hear about her.” she said, and walked off.

His dad looked at him. “Alright, but anyway… Penelope, for a bit, thought ‘I don’t want to do this shit’ after seeing Clifford and your mom talking one time. So after school, when me and Clifford went back to his house to hang out, Clifford got called downstairs from Penelope saying their parents needed him. Well, that was a lie, and she ran upstairs in his room, and started making out with me.”

“Wow… that escalated quickly.” Theo said.

“No shit… So, after that, we started meeting up, we’d talk and make out, but we never had sex. And then things got serious, too serious. We started liking each other.” his dad continued. “So we started talking about leaving Riverdale when we got out of school, moving somewhere and never coming back and starting a family and all that shit. So like the dumbass I was back in my day, I saved a shit ton of money and… she dropped me. Out of the blue, she said she didn’t want to be together with me anymore. I was heartbroken, pissed off, and ready to lose my mind, busting my ass for nothing.

“I joined a local gang, and one night, I smashed up what I thought was Penelope’s car. Turns out it was Clifford’s. So we got into this big argument and we never spoke to each other after that. My grades began to tank and me and your mom soon became friends after it was made clear that they were going to be together forever. However she didn’t know _that_ side of me. The bad side.

“One night I was really depressed about the breakup, and I’m talking horribly depressed. So I went out to town, drunk as much beer as I could, and passed out. Your mom and her sister found me face-down in a puddle of mud. So they dragged me back to your grandparents house and cleaned me up. I got grounded for a week for pulling off a stunt like that, your mom and I started studying together, and the rest is history.” his dad finally finished.

“Damn…” Theo said. “That’s… wow.” he shook his head as his father nodded. “You see son, I was almost like you when I was your age. I nearly went insane over a heartless bitch who didn’t love me too.” 

“Well, why didn’t you tell me-”

“When you were like that over that one girl?” his dad interrupted. “Son, there are things that you don’t need to know at an age like _that_. Some things just need to be said later on down the road, or never.” Theo nodded in understanding. His dad finished the device and held it up in the air. “One less thing to deal with.”

•••

It was a cousin-cousin moment. They didn’t want any of their friends to be with them, and their friends respected that. Theo looked down to the floor, his arms crossed. “So Polly is pregnant? With Jason’s kid?” he asked Betty. She nodded her head. “Yeah, she is.”

He looked up as he sighed, filling the silence of Betty’s bedroom, which was less girly than he remembered. “I bet your parents are going ballistic about it.” he said. “They’ve known about it for several months, that’s why they put her there, Theo.” Betty said. Theo shook his head. “This is absolute bullshit. You gotta…” he looked around and lowered his voice. “You gotta help me break Polly out.”

“No,” Betty said firmly. “You know that it’s just me and Jug-”

“Yeah, I fuckin’ know! But you forget somethin’, she’s my family too.” Theo exclaimed, pointing his index finger to his chest. Betty sighed and shook her head. “You would never do anything like this, even if it was just me and you.”

“For family, I’d take a bullet!” Theo yelled. Betty began to shoosh him. “Keep your voice down!” she whispered.

“How can I keep my voice down, when my cousin won’t let me break her sister outta mental hospital?!?!” Theo’s cheeks were red as blood now. “Theo, please don’t be like this.” Betty pleaded. Theo shook his head in anger. “Just because I have Asperger’s doesn’t mean-” he shook his head. “No, you know what?! You and Jughead do whatever the fuck you want! OKAY?!?! I’M OUT!” Theo yelled and slammed the door in her face. Theo swiftly left the house before Alice and Hal could ask what was going on.

Back inside, as Betty saw Theo’s shadow slowly disappear into the night, she began to cry.

•••

“Family secrets are messed up. There’s no doubt about that.” Cheryl said as her and Theo sat in her car, looking over Sweetwater River. Theo didn’t tell Cheryl about everything that had happened over the past few days with his dad and Betty. God forbid if he told her about Polly being pregnant with Jason’s child, she’d lose her mind.

“Yeah… I really hate everything right now. I’ve been really nervous about this whole talent show too.” Theo admitted. Cheryl looked at Theo confused. “Why are you worried about the Variety Show? You do awesome on the guitar and your voice.”

“Yeah, I know. I just… I’ve never sung out in a crowd y’know? I mean, I did one time when I was little and that was a terrible experience. I stuttered like an idiot.”

“How little were you?” Cheryl asked.

“Four or five.”

“Okay, and that’s been, like what, almost a decade? You got this!” Cheryl exclaimed. “If it makes you nervous that bad, we’ll do a duet, how about that?” Cheryl asked.

Theo looked at Cheryl. “I don’t think we can-”

“Of course we can! I’ll say I’m doing a duet with someone random, which will cover all of this up, I’ll ask Kevin to sign me up with you. Everything’s good!”

“Well, I do plan on playing guitar, so we’ll have to find a song to play.”

“Do you have an idea?”

Theo thought about it for a moment and then he smiled. “Yeah, as a matter of fact I think I do!"

•••

Theo looked outside and saw his family out there, waiting for him to come up on the stage as everyone saw Archie singing on stage. “God, I feel like I’m gonna be sick.” he said as he looked back at Cheryl, who was wearing a dress and skirt. She rolled her eyes. “You worry too much Theo, you got this. _We_ got this.” 

“God I hope you’re right. Tonight's the first for just about everything.” he said. As everyone cheered Archie as he left the stage, Kevin came up to the mic. “And now, for our final performance of the show, we have Theo Marshall and Cheryl Blossom!” 

That was their queue. Theo and Cheryl walked on the stage as everyone clapped. Theo was grinning, looking down at the floor as he sat on a stool alongside Cheryl. He looked up at Cheryl. “You ready?”

“Ready Freddy!” she answered.

He nodded and he began to play his guitar, the notes coming out perfectly. He put his mouth to the microphone like he did at the audition.

_Go away from my window_

_Leave at your own chosen speed_

_I’m not the one you want babe_

_I’m not the one you need_

Cheryl smiled as she moved herself to the mic and the song became a duet

_You say you’re lookin’ for someone_

_Who’s never weak but always strong_

_To protect you and defend you_

_Whether you are right or wrong_

_Someone to open each and every door_

_But it ain’t me, babe_

_No, no, no, it ain’t me, babe_

_It ain’t me you’re lookin’ for, babe_

The crowd cheered in approval as they got through the first half of the song. Rebecca mouthed, “Good job little bro!” as they continued. His parents also smiled as they looked on. They sang as well as the others, even though they stumbled a bit on a few words. 

When the song finished, the crowd gave them about the same energy they had done _The Pussycats_ and Archie. The performance was brilliant. His family, and Justin and Charlotte gave them both a standing ovation. With a bow, they walked off and headed backstage, where Theo put his guitar in its case. “So, you don’t think people will ask what we were doing singing together?” he asked. Cheryl shook her head. “No, I promise you they won’t.”

“That’s good.” silence hit the air for a few seconds until Theo got a more serious look on his face. “Hey Cheryl, you remember how we said we could be... a certain type of friends?”

She nodded. “Yeah, what about it?”

“Would it be okay if we just become, y’know, regular friends?”

The question hung around Cheryl’s head for a little bit. Theo thought he had said something wrong until she smiled. “Honestly… yeah, we can do that. You’ve… been a good person to me the past few days. You came to me at my brother’s memorial, you’ve comforted me when I cried… but can I ask why?” she asked.

 _Obviously, I like you_ was what Theo wanted to say, however he couldn’t say that, so he went for a little white lie. “It’s what friends do.” he said. Cheryl smiled. “Well, thank you Theo. I appreciate it.”

Theo and Cheryl shared a hug, and Cheryl left the stage. “I’ll see you at school?” he asked. Cheryl turned around and nodded. “Yeah, I’ll see you later.” she smiled.

As Theo watched Cheryl leave, his phone began to ring. He pulled it out of his pocket and saw that it was Betty. Thinking back to the other night, he rolled his eyes and answered the phone. “Hello?” he asked. “Hey, Theo… I need to talk to you about something.”

“Okay, what is it?” Theo asked. “Not here," Betty said. "It would be best if we talked about it in person." 


	7. Lies, Lies, and More Lies

When Theo entered the Cooper Residence, he expected Alice and Hal to be upset with him about making their youngest daughter cry. They probably were, but when Alice answered the door, she said, “Hey Theo! Guys! Come on in!”

Theo and his family entered the household, where Hal greeted him and his parents. “Well, look who’s back!” Alice exclaimed, looking at Rebecca. She grabbed her shoulders. “Look at you! You’ve grown so much!” 

“Yeah, I have.” Rebecca said, and shrugged. Alice gave her a hug. So did Hal. “Yep. She’s grown like a weed since we’ve seen ‘er.” his dad said, patting her on the shoulder. Soon, there came walking downstairs and everyone saw Betty, wearing a shirt and jeans. She nearly gasped when she saw Rebecca in her sight. “Wow! You’ve-”

“Changed?” Rebecca finished. They laughed and shared a hug. Betty, of course, noticed Theo and her face changed. “Is it alright if I talk to Theo in private?” she asked. Alice and Hal nodded, and they went into the living room, out of sight from the family; they faced each other.

“Hey… I’m sorry about not bringing you along.” Betty said. “It’s just that… I was worried about more than two people coming and-”

“No, I’m sorry.” Theo interrupted. “I understand how risky something like that is, I understand that you guys didn’t want to bring more people.” he gave Betty a sad look. “I’m… sorry for yelling at you that night, I shouldn’t have. I shouldn’t have said the things that I did.”

“It’s okay.” Betty said. They embraced each other in a cousingly hug. Theo and Betty had their fights sometime, especially when they were little kids running around the backyard all those years ago. However, that didn’t mean that they could stop loving each other.

“And there’s another thing.” Betty said as they parted. “Me and Jughead went to the Sisters of Quiet Mercy last night and… Polly’s missing.” she said. Theo’s face fell. His cousin? Missing? That couldn’t be right. “Please tell me you’re joking.” he said.

Betty shook her head.

“Oh my God!” he whispered, both of his hands on his head. “Please tell me that you’re gonna tell-”

“Yeah, I’m gonna tell my parents.” Betty said. Theo sighed in relief. “Thank God.” he said. “Let’s get this dinner over with and we’ll sort this out later.”

•••

“Sooo, what’s the verdict?” Veronica asked as she and Betty approached Theo, Charlotte, and Justin. “We’re seeing each other.” Charlotte grinned from ear to ear. “Well, I guess everything is settled then, huh?” Betty asked. “I guess so.” Justin said. “Well, what are we going to do about Polly?” Theo asked.

“Guys guys guys! You need to see this!” Kevin said, running up to the gang. “Woah, slow down there buckaroo, what is it?” Theo asked. “Look!” he exclaimed, showing them his phone. They looked at the phone and they saw that he was on Cheryl’s Twitter; what Theo saw made his blood boil.

@CherylBombshell: #PollyCooperKilledMyBrother #NowhereToHide #SharpenYourPitchforks

Theo gritted his teeth and clenched his fist. “That fucking bitch!” Theo yelled, which garnered the attention of a few other students walking. “Theo, don’t do anything stupid. It’s nothing none of us can afford.” Justin said. “That bitch! That whore!” Theo exclaimed. It was weeks, weeks of fights and conversations and now, she does this? Theo shook his head. “No, I won’t do anything to her.” Theo said.

A lie. He couldn’t do anything physically. However, he could do things verbally.

After school, a small search team of students, plus Alice, Hal, Theo’s mom and dad and Rebecca, gathered in Eversgreen Forest. Theo thought it was a bad idea bringing a bunch of random people, like Josie McCoy and her band, Reggie Mantle, and a few other unknowns into the group, but the more people to help find Polly. “Okay, the Sisters of Quiet Mercy are due north. The getaway car was west on the Old Route 40.”

“The closest bus station is east,” Jughead said after Betty. “Headed towards Sweetwater. If Polly wanted to leave Riverdale, without anyone finding out-”

“She would be here.” Betty interrupted.

“Alright, everyone split up, and start searching.” Jughead said, and so they did. Of course, Theo, Justin, and Charlotte started to look around for any clues, calling out “Polly” every few seconds. “God, I hope she’s okay.” Charlotte said. “Yeah, me too.” Theo said. _Especially with her being pregnant_. “God, I hope we find her.” Theo exclaimed, his stomach now getting twisting in knots from being nervous. “Don’t worry Theo, we will.” his dad promised to ease his nerves.

“Fuck me.” Justin said as he stopped all of a sudden. Looking east. Theo and Charlotte saw what he was looking at, and they could not believe their eyes. It was the Blossoms, with their own respective search team. Cheryl made contact with Theo for a second, but he turned his eyes back on the path. _Don’t you dare fucking look at me_ he thought. His mom and dad looked at Penelope and Clifford with a stare that said: “If looks could kill.” “C’mon, we need to get moving.” Justin said, now walking more faster. Rebecca and Charlotte swiftly followed behind, then Theo and his parents.

They came face-to-face with the Blossom search party. Theo’s mom and dad standing with Alice and Hal. “Alice Cooper,” Penelope exclaimed as she marched up to Alice. “Where is Polly?”

“Do you think if she knew that, we’d all be out here?” his dad interjected. Penelope gazed at him and his mom. “Can it Robert!” she said.

“Don’t you speak to him!” his mom fumed. Penelope just raised a hand as she turned her attention back to Alice. “Face the facts, mother, Polly killed Jason.”

“Oh, drop dead you fucking whore!” Theo said, which in turn earned him angry gazes from the Blossoms, surprised looks from Cheryl and the Cooper search team, a smile of approval from Justin and Charlotte, and a slap in the back of the head from his father. “Theodore Isaac!” he muttered.

Penelope returned her gaze to Theo. It would’ve made Theo turn his head but with all the anger inside him, he felt like he was impervious to her and her family. She smiled. “I see that denial is still running through the family.” she said. His mother pushed Theo back as she got into Penelope’s face. “Don’t you dare say a word to my son you bitch!” she cursed.

“Woah woah!” Sheriff Keller said as he put his arm in between Penelope and his mom’s body and his dad held her back. “C’mon Anne, leave it.” his dad said. Penelope smiled. “Strange, they sang at the Variety show together, didn’t they? I thought that he would love Cheryl.”

“Well, ya thought wrong!” Theo said. “Ew gross! I would never in a million years.” Cheryl resounded, disgusted by the suggestion

“Yeah? Well all those times I acted like I was there for you, it was all an act.” he lied, smirking. “I was hoping I could get myself a little piece.” 

That earned collective gasps and mutters from the crowd. Cheryl was visibly offended by those words, however Theo could tell that the lie hurt Cheryl, as she flinched. But she soon covered that up with disgust. “You sick asshole!!!” she yelled. Now Rebecca entered the ring, ready to kick Cheryl’s ass for calling her brother something like that. Her dad instantly came behind her and held her tightly, making sure that everybody involved and watching wouldn’t have to go to court. 

Enter Clifford now, who was still angry from the name-calling, but calm. “Polly has escaped, this must not be her first time.” he declared. “She must’ve escaped before, say, the day Jason was shot?”

“No need to worry about these rabble rousers.” Penelope pointed at Theo’s family, and she returned her eyes to Alice once more. “The noose is tightening around your insane daughter. You know she did it. Sheriff Keller knows she did it.” 

Sheriff Keller didn’t look too pleased with the accusation. “Hold on now, I don’t-”

“And we know she did it. And when we find her, which we will, the whole entire state of New York will know she did it.” she announced, and they walked off.

Theo’s dad dragged him into the small church, where the Coopers will be talking to the news. “I should’ve whipped your ass for saying that right in front of God and everybody!” he yelled. He realized he shouldn’t have said that, as he was in the House of God. He whispered to himself: “Forgive me Lord.” and looked at his son. “I know that you’re angry about her saying that Polly killed Jason, we all are! But that does not give you the right to call her what you did and say that you just wanted sex!”

“I was just saying that so her mom could get off my back! And because of what she said about Polly! I wasn’t going to be treated like that or let my family be treated like that!” Theo argued.

“That could’ve escalated into something worse, Theodore.” his mother interjected. “It doesn’t matter if you’re angry or lying about it, or defending your family or not, you NEVER say anything like that! We raised you and Rebecca better than that!” she exclaimed. Theo nodded. “Yes ma’am.” he said, disappointed at himself.

“You’re grounded for the week, and you’re going to apologize to Cheryl for saying those things in front of those people. Do you understand me?”

“But dad, you know-”

“Do you understand?” his dad repeated.

He sighed and shook his head, “Yes sir.” 

“And another thing: Cheryl is to have no contact with you whatsoever!” his mom said. “I don’t care if you guys are studying together, singing, or whatever, you are NOT to be around her!”

He nodded. “Yes ma’am.”

Outside, Theo stood beside Betty as Alice blabbered on, trying to clear the family name. When Alice mentioned Polly being pregnant, the whole crowd muttered collectively and the Blossoms escaped the crowd. That entire time, Theo looked at Cheryl, angry. The feeling was mutual, because Cheryl looked at him with the same look.

“...And now, my cousin would like to say a few words regarding earlier.” Alice sobbed, looking at Theo as she backed away from the podium. Theo felt himself die inside as he walked slowly towards it. The cameras flashed and flickered across his vision, almost making him blind. 

“On behalf of my family, and myself, I want to apologize for what I said earlier today to Mr. and Mrs. Blossom's daughter, Cheryl. My parents raised me better than that. What I said was a lie because she hurt my family, and of course, she hurt me. Her parents were also pointing fingers at my cousin, Polly Cooper, accusing her of the murder of Jason Blossom.” he cleared his throat. “I know that she is not here right now, but Cheryl, if you hear this later on, I want to say I’m truly sorry for what I said, and I hope you accept my apology. Thank you.” he stepped away from the podium and walked back into the church.

When he did, he looked up at the cross which held the crown of thorns and a piece of purple cloth. Theo was Christian, however he had not been to church for a long time, nor had he been baptized and saved. He looked down at his feet and thought about today, where he had let his emotions get the better of him. 

“Forgive me Lord, for I know not what I do.”

•••

Back at school, Theo was sitting in Mrs. Haggly’s classroom, which had been abandoned for the rest of the day, as the day had ended. He wasn’t feeling good. He had been out of it the entire day and had isolated himself from everyone. No, no one came up and heckled him for saying those things to Cheryl, surprisingly. They were probably people who had talked about him behind his back. No, instead, he regretted everything still. He regretted what he said to Cheryl, he regretted talking to Rebecca the way he did, telling her to move back to California. God! Why did he do the things he did?! Why must he open his mouth?!

He buried his head into his hoodie, and began to sob quietly, not wanting anyone to hear him, to see the shape he was currently in. He couldn’t imagine someone, worst of all a jock or cheerleader, coming in on him crying. His parents told him not to but he couldn’t help it, not with everything-

“Theo, are you okay?” a feminine voice asked. He didn’t know who it was, and he didn’t care who it was. “Please, go away.” he said through the coat. “Theo, please.” the feminine voice begged. He shook his head.

“GO AWAY AND LEAVE ME ALONE!” he cried through the coat.

“Theo, it’s Cheryl.” she said. Theo raised his head slowly, his cheeks flushed and his eyes bloodshot. He sniffled as he looked up at Cheryl with his tear-blinded eyes. “What?” he muttered.

“Theo, it’s okay. I forgive you for what you said.” Cheryl said, laying her soft hand on his knee. “Why?” he asked, moving her hand. “I don’t deserve to be forgiven. I’m a terrible person.”

“No you are not!” Cheryl whispered. “Everybody says things at the heat of the moment. I was wrong about Polly.” she said. He didn’t say anything or try to shoo her hand away when she rubbed his shoulder, trying to ease him. “I’m such a bad person, I swear I am. I don’t deserve this.”

“Theo, a bad person is when you want to conquer the world and have one race of people ruling over it after you got rejected from art school.” she said, referring to infamous dictator Adolf Hitler. That brought him back to the night at Town Hall, where they talked about history. That made him smile a little, making him feel a tiny bit better.

“I saw your apology. Ginger sent me a video of it.” she revealed. “I accept it.” he was looking at the floor now, tears now visibly falling and making dark spots on his pants. “I didn’t mean to say those things. Kevin, he… showed me what you tweeted and I wasn’t-”

“Thinking, I know.” Cheryl interrupted. “You were mad. You were only defending yourself and your family.” he nodded in agreement. After a few seconds of silence and sniffling: “Betty talked to me earlier, about Polly. I want to help her and my unborn niece or nephew.” she said. Theo looked up at Cheryl. “Do you really mean it?”

“I’m dead serious about it.” she said, nodding. He also nodded. “I… I believe you.” Theo said. Cheryl gave a small smile. “Good.”

Theo then got up and grabbed his backpack and hoodie. “I better get going, I’m grounded and my parents will probably start wondering where I am. Also, I don’t want to spend the night here.” he joked. She chuckled. “Yeah, I better get going too. I’ll see you around.” They left the classroom and went opposite directions.

Little did they know, a certain Tina Patel was watching them as they left.

•••

At Thornhill, Cheryl was laying on her bed, now in more comfortable clothes for the rest of the day, when she got a text in her small group chat with Tina and Ginger and the cheerleading team, excluding Betty and Veronica. She opened her phone and went into the group chat and nearly panicked when she saw what Tina had sent.

It was a photo of earlier, of her and Theo talking, Theo was visibly upset and Cheryl’s face was clearly sympathetic for her secret friend. Tina then sent another text.

_Tina: WHAT THE HELL IS THIS CHERYL?!_

Followed by Ginger…

_Ginger: WTF?! Is that you and that one nerd?!_

Cheryl’s heart was beating as fast as a supersonic hammer as she continued to get hammered by texts by the rest of the team.

_Tina: Eww, do you like HIM Cheryl?!_

That text opened up an opportunity for her, and she quickly typed back:

_What?! HELL NO!_

_Ginger: Are you positive Cheryl?_

She sighed.

_Positive_


	8. Every Storm

Inside Pembrooke Apartments, Theo knocked on the door of apartment 330. Rebecca and his parents stood with him as Mrs. Lodge opened the door. “Hello there!” she said.

“General Kenobi!” Theo said, which made Mrs. Lodge and the rest of the gang pause and look at Theo. “It’s a Star Wars reference, I’m sorry, anyway I’m Polly’s cousin Theo.” Theo quickly introduced. Mrs. Lodge smiled. “Oh, I’ve heard about you! And is this Rebecca?” she asked as she looked at Rebecca. “Yes it is. Forgive my brother, he is prone to pop culture.”

That ignited a punch to the shoulder from Theo, and in return, he got the same from Rebecca. Mrs. Lodge chuckled. “Well it’s great to see you guys! Come in!” she said, and the door opened wide. The group entered the apartment, and as Theo’s parents talked with Mrs. Lodge, Theo couldn’t help but admire its intricate interior, “Wow!” he whispered, looking at the beautiful and expensive decorations. “This place is amazing!” he said to Rebecca.

She nodded. “God yeah it is.” “You guys can come into the living room, I’ll go get Polly.” Mrs. Lodge said. Theo and Rebecca went into the living room, where Veronica was also sitting. “Well hello Theo! Theo’s parents! Rebecca!” she said cheerfully. They all greeted Veronica, and as they did, Mrs. Lodge came in, followed by Polly.

She gasped. “Oh my God!” she said. Theo walked up and stood a few feet away from Polly. “Well look who it is.” he said. Polly walked up to Theo and entrapped him in a hug. He returned it with much enthusiasm, having not seen her in so long. “Look at you!” she exclaimed. “You’re like, grown up.” she laughed.

“And you’re like, I don’t know!” he yelled, and hugged again. Rebecca then walked up to Polly. “You haven’t seen me in a long time though.” she said. Polly looked at Rebecca. “You’re alive?!” Polly asked.

“Sure am!” Rebecca exclaimed, and they too shared a hug. The whole entire thing was like a family reunion in the eyes of Theo, as she later discussed the baby with his parents, and what her plans were.

•••

A few girls on the cheerleading team looked over and stared at Theo, who didn’t heed them any mind as he entered the student lounge. “Polly’s convinced herself that no one wants her baby.” Betty said as he sat down beside Cheryl, who moved a bit further away from Theo. “Besides the child-snatching Blossom monsters.” Kevin remarked. Cheryl looked over at Kevin with a not-too-happy look. “No offense, Cheryl.” he said.

“None taken.” she replied.

“So your mom and dad want Polly but not the baby, and the Blossoms want the baby but not Polly. Sounds like a true Gordian knot.” Jughead said.

“No, it’s an impossible situation.” 

“I think that’s what the Gordian knot is, Bets.” Theo said. 

“Betty, come on. An impossible situation is being invited to the _Vanity Flair_ Oscar party and Elton John’s Oscar party on the same night. Which happened to me one year, I know.” Veronica said

“Of course it did.” Theo remarked, and Veronica smiled and rolled her eyes. “This is an _annoying_ situation,” Veronica corrected. “But luckily, I’ve been percolating on an idea hellishly simple in its conception. What if my mom and I were to host a baby shower?”

“Count me in!” Cheryl said, smiling.

“You want Polly to feel loved and supported, right?” Veronica asked. “Yeah, but ideally by our parents.” Betty answered

“Okay, so baby steps, girl. Get Polly and your parents in the same room. In a public setting where they can’t fight and _voila_! Let the healing begin!” Veronica said. “I gotta agree with her on this one, Betty.” Theo said. Veronica smiled. “See, even he agrees with me.”

“Am I expected to come to this thing?” Jughead asked.

“Of course, you’re Betty's boyfriend!” Veronica said, which was responded to with stares from the group. “Come on you guys, relax! It’s just a word that starts with the letter ‘B’.” she laughed. “Betty, what do you say?” Veronica asked.

“Elizabeth Cooper!” a mature female voice said in anger. Everyone turned around and saw Alice Cooper standing at the doorway, not too happy. “Mom?” Betty asked, wondering if she was dreaming. “I need you,” she pointed at Betty. “And you!” she pointed at Veronica. “Right now!”

Not wanting to cause a scene, they stood up and went with Alice, and left the group in the student lounge in shock. “The hell was that about?” Theo asked. “I think she might know about Polly.” Jughead answered.

•••

After school, Theo closed the door to his locker and walked down the hallway to the one and only Cheryl Blossom. “And look who it is, the modern day Claire Standish.” he said as she was walking away from her locker. She turned around and smiled. “Hey Theo.” she said.

“Veronica came up with a pretty good idea, didn’t she?” he asked. Cheryl nodded. “Yeah! And I already know what I’m going to get her.” 

“Oh yeah, and what’s that?” Theo asked. “I don’t think I should tell you.” Cheryl sang.

“I think you should.”

“I think I shouldn’t.”

Theo chuckled, and put his arm around her hip. “I’ll see you at the baby shower?” Theo asked. Cheryl nodded. “Yeah, I’ll see you there.” she answered, and Theo walked away.

Cheryl’s face returned to that of a sad one. She almost felt like crying. She shook her head, she was NOT going to cry in the middle of the hallway. After cheerleading practice, she stayed by herself in the locker room, and contemplated everything that had happened in the past few weeks. Theo went from being her torture victim to a fling to an actual friend. A friend that understood her in a way and comforted her like no one else did. She felt something different for Theo, just slightly.

However, she had to keep her reputation clean, and she had to do whatever in her power to protect it from becoming dirty. She shook her head. She knew what she had to do.

However she went back on her promise in the hallway, and she began crying.

•••

On the night of the baby shower, Theo and his family came in, dressed a bit formal for Polly’s special occasion. In a flannel shirt and jeans, Theo made his way towards Polly and hugged her as Veronica and her mother greeted his parents and sister. “You know, I’m happy for you.” he began. “I’m glad that you’re having a child.”

She smiled. “Thank you Theo.” then she let out a sigh. “I wish Jason was here to see all of this.” she held her swollen stomach. Theo nodded. “Yeah, I wish the same for you.” giving Polly a solemn look.

Someone then came up beside Theo and saw it was none other than Valerie and her friend and bandmate, Melody Valentine; they hugged Polly. _Strange_ he thought, he knew Josie was everywhere with Valerie and Melody, so why wasn’t she-

Then he noticed something even more unusual, Archie wasn’t here. As Polly kept talking with Valerie and Melody, he looked around. Jughead and Betty were here, talking to each other, of course Veronica was here, this was her home. But no Archie Andrews to be found.

However, he did notice Charlotte and Justin, who were walking towards him.

“Hey man!” Justin spoke first, patting his shoulder. Theo did the same. “Thought of your cousin more than us, huh?” Charlotte joked. Theo rolled his eyes. “C’mon, I haven’t seen here in years, gimme a break.” the trio chuckled.

“Polly, look, mom’s here.” Betty said as the room went quiet along with Theo and his friends. Alice Cooper entered the room with a gift bag in her hand, which Betty put down nearby.

As the room regained its normalcy of talking, Theo looked at Justin. “Have you guys seen Archie anywhere? I thought he would be here.” he said. Justin shrugged. “I thought he would come with Valerie.” “I thought he would already be here.” Charlotte shook her head. 

“WE’RE HERE!” Cheryl announced, making Theo jump as she burst through the door with a baby carriage, along with Penelope Blossom, and an elderly lady in a wheelchair.

“Fuck my life.” Theo heard his dad mutter nearby, shaking his head. Of course, his mom also wasn’t happy, shaking her head as she looked at her husband’s former lover.

Theo was getting nervous by the second now as Cheryl walked away with the old woman and Penelope talked to Polly. His mother and father in the same room, with the former lover and daughter their son simultaneously insulted. This was NOT good. If someone said anything to provoke one another, this room would erupt in a massive argument the likes of which the world has never seen.

“Mr. Marshall, I’m talking to you.” Penelope Blossom waved her hand slowly across Theo’s face. He snapped out of his thoughts. “Y-yes, Mrs. Blossom?”

“I want to accept your apology and thank you for saying sorry to my sweet daughter.” she began. “I hope you haven’t found yourself in any trouble with anyone other than us.”

“Oh he hasn’t.” his dad answered for him, putting his arm around him. “My son has a squeaky clean record. Don’t you, son?” he patted his back hard as Theo stammered. “Y-yes I do.” he chuckled. Penelope gave him a fake smile. “Well I’m glad, I hope you and your family have a good time Theo.” she said as she walked away.

Theo felt breath enter his earlobe as his father said. “Don’t you be around her or her daughter.” and walked away.

Theo looked down and shook his head as Justin and Charlotte looked on nervously. Justin broke the awkward silence first.

“Theo?”

“I’m so fucked.”

•••

As the baby shower continued, Theo, Justin, and Charlotte listened in on Nana Rose. The old woman who came with Cheryl and Penelope was actually Cheryl’s grandmother. Currently she sat across from Polly, saying something about a necklace. 

“Nana has dementia and gypsy blood.” Cheryl commented. Theo couldn’t help but smile at that. That sounded more like his grandmother, who didn’t have dementia but acted like she didn’t know her ass from her elbow, kept forgetting things, and had problems with the simplest of tasks. _She’s getting old,_ his parents once said to him.

“Is my baby okay?” Polly asked as Nana Rose exclaimed.

“ _Babies_! It’s twins! One of each!” Nana Rose said. Polly’s face lit up like a Christmas tree.

“Praise the lord!” Rebecca said in her granny voice. “It’s the Second Coming!”

Then Theo cleared his throat and began to speak in his Early Cuyler voice. “Naw Granny, it’s just one more fuckin’ mouth to feed!”

“Oh, bananas!” Rebecca said, and they both laughed until their dad walked over. “Watch your mouth, Theo.” he said sternly. Theo nodded before his dad walked away and they laughed quietly to themselves.

It was then on to gifts. Everyone gathered around as Polly opened up gift bags and unwrapped boxes. A gift that Theo and his family (Mainly his mom and dad.) was a baby outfit. Polly said her thanks to them, and she continued to open gifts, until Archie opened the door to the apartment. He didn’t look too happy.

He ran up to Jughead as he was being followed by Betty and Veronica. Everyone kept paying attention to Polly with the exception of the trio. None of them could read lips, but what it was, Archie left the apartment as soon as he came.

They diverted their attention back to Polly, who had gotten a wooden horse from the Blossoms. “I’ll be damned. I didn’t expect that.” he heard his dad say to his mom.

“Oh Polly, please come stay with us at Thornhill.” Cheryl said. Penelope laid her hand on Cheryl’s knee. “Her invitation is genuine. Thornhill’s gates will always be open to you.” she said. Alice and Betty didn’t look too comfortable as she kept explaining herself. 

Alice sighed. “Do you think you can just waltz in here with a bedbug-infested Trojan Horse, wave a blank check around and steal my daughter?”

_Oh no._

“I didn’t think you wanted her,” Penelope started. “Why would she be exiled like some pariah?”

Alice stood up, which prompted Theo’s mom and dad to approach slowly. “To keep her away from your family!” she said. “Oh! Not because you’re ashamed?” Penelope said as she also stood up. 

“Why is your own daughter not living with you?”

“She’s not going to step foot in that twisted, poisonous house of yours!” 

“She should be so lucky.” Cheryl intervened.

“Cheryl, that’s not helping!” Betty said. Theo left the group and came into the argument. “Just leave it guys, we don’t need this.” he said, but they paid no mind.

“She’d be a lot better with us than with you.” Penelope said. Alice then got into her face. “How dare you?!” she exclaimed as Theo got between them. “Guys, stop!” Theo shouted.

“What the hell?!” Cheryl yelled at Theo, who was bewildered at her behavior. “What do you mean? I’m stopping another fight.”

“My mom doesn’t need your help.” Cheryl said, arms crossed. 

“I didn’t say that she did.” 

Cheryl scoffed. “Why is it that you always get involved with everything that includes me?!”

Theo scowled. “What do you mean?”

“I mean that I don’t like you!!!”

Theo felt a hot, squeezing sensation in his throat. His mouth went dry and his heart sank to his stomach as it shattered into tiny pieces. “I don’t… I don’t believe you, after everything-”

“Yes, even after everything!” 

The room went into a deafening silence. Charlotte, Justin, the Pussycats, and a few other guests who knew the rumors of Cheryl and Theo’s tryst, had their mouths covered and were looking at each other. Theo and Cheryl continued to stare at one another as hot tears of heartbreak and anger began to drop down from Theo’s eyes.

“Okay… I understand.” Theo nodded, biting his lip, and he began to walk away from everyone. “Hey Theo! Stop!” his parents and sister said. He didn’t answer and he left the room, slamming the door as hard as he could. No one said a word, but eventually, Rebecca did.

“You know,” Rebecca said to Cheryl, who was clearly upset about her brother. “Even after all the shit that has happened and after you stomped all over him beginning of the year, he liked you. Even though you guys just met, he cared about you.”

“Becca-”

“No, I’m not finished!” Rebecca said to her parents. “I can’t believe you would break my brothers heart over your fucking popular girl, cheerleading reputation. He clearly doesn’t deserve you. He doesn’t deserve a person who puts their reputation over everything.” Rebecca said. Cheryl’s eyes began to water as Rebecca, added by Charlotte and Justin, began to leave the apartment to find Theo.

•••

He ran. From here to his home, he ran all the way back to the suburbs, tears blinding his eyes as he came back. He unlocked the door, shut and locked it behind him, and ran into his room, locking it for good measure. “FUCK!!!” he screamed. “MOTHERFUCK!!!” 

He continued to curse at the wind and everything under the sun as he punched and kicked at the wall. He didn’t care if he woke the neighbors up, he could care less about the neighbors, fuck the neighbors.

Finally he fell on his bed, crying and covering his eyes with his bruised hands. Why did everything bad happen to him? Why did God allow these things to happen? Was it karma? Was it vengeance?

He couldn’t walk with anyone about such a thing, such wretched heartbreak. He had felt it before, back with _her_. Back when they were young and in middle school, dumb and in love. Or so he thought.

The sound of shattering glass came from downstairs. Theo heard it clearly and kept laying on the bed. If it was a burglar, to hell with it. Let them kill him from the other side of the door. Let them shoot him, he couldn’t care less about it. He heard the footsteps approach the door.

And then a knock

“Theo, are you in there?” the voice of Rebecca asked. “Go away, please.” he said, sniffling. Another knock came. “Theo, please let me in.” she pleaded. Theo sighed and got up, walking slowly to the door; he opened it, and saw Rebecca and Justin and Charlotte standing there.

Rebecca looked down at Theo’s hands, and gasped. “Theo…” she turned to Charlotte and Justin. “Can you guys leave? I think I need to stay with him. They listened and went downstairs. She entered the room and held his hand, looking at his bruised knuckles.

“Come with me to the bathroom.” she said, and led him to their destination. Theo sat down on the toilet, putting the seat down. Rebecca rummaged through the cabinet and found a bottle of alcohol, cotton, and some bandages. “This is going to burn.” she warned as she sat on the side of the bathtub and began to rub the alcohol on his knuckles. 

The stinging pain began to sear through his arm and he bit the inside of his lip. “Please don’t do whatever you did to your hands again.” she said, shaking her head as continued.

“She… she broke me.” he muttered. Rebecca nodded. “I told her how you felt for her. That bitch does not deserve you.”

Theo nodded, not in agreement, but to let her know she can continue.

“I let her have it… if she really cared about you, Theo, she would’ve put you first and her rep second.” she wrapped his hand with the bandages, and started on the other hand.

“You know mom and dad are-”

“Going to be mad about the window? I know.” she said. “I didn’t wanna leave you in there by yourself.” she said. She finished with his hand. “Go lay down on the bed and rest, I’ll deal with them when you get home.”

And so that’s what he did, he went into his bedroom and locked the door. He then unlocked his phone and did the best he could to not have contact with Cheryl. After that, he slept for the rest of the night, wishing he could stay like that forever.

•••

Back at Thornhill, Cheryl undressed herself and got into her sleeping clothes. While her friends and parents applauded her actions against Theo, she did not. She couldn’t believe what she had done. His sister was right, she didn’t deserve Theo. Not at all.

However, she did think of something that brought a glimmer of hope.

She had his number, so she picked up her phone, and quickly typed his number out, not going to her recent phone calls. She began to call him, but:

“We’re sorry, the person you are trying to call cannot be reached at this time. Please hang up and try your call again.” 

Her heart sank, she knew what that meant. Messenger was the final option. She got into their conversation and saw that everything looked normal. She typed out her message: _I am sorry for tonight. Tina found out about us. Please forgive me._

She pressed the send button and...

“You can not reply to this conversation at this time.”

It was over then. Everything between them was officially done for. She began to sob, knowing she couldn’t do anything.

She laid down on her bed, and cried herself to sleep that night, wishing that maybe, everything would change in the morning.

But she doubted it will.


	9. Inner Demon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really couldn't wait to post this chapter, as this one is probably the most drama-filled chapter in the story. Unfortunately, there was nothing that I could write about Theo in Chapter Eight: La Grande Illusion, so I had to skip an episode. However, if I do think of something, I will be sure to add it.
> 
> WARNING: this chapter contains referenced suicide, if that triggers you, please skip this chapter.

Weeks passed by and Theo and Cheryl still hadn’t talked to each other since the fiasco at Pembrooke Apartments. They would look at each other though sometimes, and when they catched each other's eyes, they would give one another unemotional blank looks, as if they were seeing through each other, then they would look away.

Things hadn’t really changed, except Archie went with Cheryl to some sort of family event, which in turn made Valerie break up with him. He could’ve hung out with Valerie and gotten together with her, but because her friend Josie was friends with Cheryl, he refrained. He didn’t want that two-faced snob in his business, or know anything happening in his life.

October rolled around and the gang was sitting at lunch. Listening to Veronica and her drama. “Enough about my drama, you were saying something about Jughead’s birthday?” Veronica asked.

Because Theo was also Jughead’s friend, Theo stopped reading his book and paid attention. “Yeah, his dad told me Jughead has never had a birthday.” Betty said.

Archie nodded in confirmation.

“Let’s have one for him, like a surprise party.” Betty beamed.

“Uh-uh, no.” Archie said.

“That’s a fantastic idea!” Veronica exclaimed. 

Archie still shook his head. “Jug doesn’t like his birthday. “Nobody means that.” Kevin interjected. “He’s a lone wolf.” he argued until Veronica interrupted him.

“Okay, ignoring the negativity. You know me Betty, any excuse to wear a party dress. I’m thinking of a quaint gathering, inner-circle only.”

Kevin's eyes were bulging out of his head now, looking across the lunch room. “Guys, don’t turn around.”

That, however, was not heeded by the group as they turned around. Theo nearly wanted to choke himself as he saw Chuck Clayton, the boy who had messed with Veronica, come their way.

He walked past them as they looked on. “Holy cow, I think his lats got bigger.” he said.

Everyone scowled at him.

“Not that I care because he’s evil incarnate.” said the guy who said dating him was like dating a Kennedy. “What’s he doing back here?” Theo asked. “He got suspended, not expelled. Although he should’ve been drawn and quartered for what he did.” Veronica said as Betty got up and walked towards Chuck, who was sitting beside one of his victims, Ethel Muggs.

Theo was about to get up before Justin held his shoulder. Theo looked over at him and Justin shook his head. Theo listened to his non-verbal communication and sat down, however keeping an eye on his cousin.

They talked calmly until Betty yelled, “I’m not going!”

Justin tried to hold Theo back but Theo got up and stood beside Betty, ready for anything. “Ethel, is Chuck bothering you?” Betty asked. She shook her head. “You can relax, it’s fine.”

“Yeah Betty, we’re fine.”

“Is your fucking name Ethel?” Theo asked. Chuck shook his head. “Then shuddup.” he said sternly.

“But the real question is, are you, Betty?”

Theo clenched his fist and was ready to cause a scene in front of everyone. He was ready to knock that smug look off his face. Betty did nothing but walk away. Theo slammed his palms on the table, making Ethel’s food nearly jump from its tray. “You listen here, motherfucker.” he began to whisper. Chuck looked at him with an unphased look. “If you dare say anything to her, or about her, or even dare look or breathe in her direction. I will bust your head open. Do you understand?”

If word got out about what Theo said to Chuck, he could kiss his ass goodbye and say hello to jail. He knew he shouldn’t have said that, but when it came down to family…

“Yeah, I understand.” he said. Theo walked away, his face red as blood as he sat back down.

“No, he was apologizing.” Betty said as Theo jerked his headphones out and put him in his ears. “Oh, I’m so sure.” Veronica said sarcastically. Theo turned on some songs from Metallica, letting his anger sink into those songs with every heartbeat.

•••

“So, party for Jughead, what are we doing?” Theo asked Justin as they sat in the gym, doing homework as the cheerleaders were doing their usual bullshit. Unfortunately for the both of them, they didn’t know the team had cheerleading practice. Being in the same room as Cheryl made him on edge.

“Well, Archie told me we’re having the surprise birthday party. He’s getting his house fixed up for it.” Justin said, as they kept looking at their shared packet. “Still gonna be the inner circle?” Theo asked.

“Yup.” Justin answered. Music began to play as Theo scowled at the loudness of it. “Sonuvabitch, do they have to-” Theo was about to say _play their music so loud_ until he looked up and saw Veronica dancing. 

As the average teenage boy, like so many others, Theo had a hard time keeping his gaze away from Veronica as she danced. He kept staring, and probably would’ve creamed himself right on the spot when he saw her butt bounce in those booty shorts.

When Cheryl began to dance, he couldn’t help but admit that her dancing was almost on-par with Veronicas’. He thought she was doing-

 _No dumbass! Pay attention to Veronica!_ The voice in his head said, poking his skull imaginatively. Theo shook his head and did that, until Justin waved a hand in front of his vision. “Dude, hate to stop your fantasia, but we need to get this done.” 

Theo shook his head and looked down at this ninety-five percent completed paper. “Yeah… right.” he said. They completed the work just as practice was done, and saw Cheryl dog out her friends, or ex-friends, Tina and Ginger, for not voting for her.

“Shoo, bitches!” she finished as Tina and Ginger walked off. “Woah Cheryl, why so harsh? This is a democracy.” Theo said sarcastically. Cheryl scoffed. “Shut the fuck up neo-nazi, I don’t ned your opinion.”

“Well tough shit, you have my opinion, whore.” Theo said. Things were now getting heated between the two. The cheerleaders, including Betty and Veronica, stopped and looked at the bickering two.

“You are very disrespectful towards women-”

“NO! I’M DISRESPECTFUL TOWARDS YOU!” Theo screamed, his voice echoing throughout the gym. “You invaded the privacy of my family, you tricked me into thinking that you liked me. Hell, you deserve all the disrespect after the way you treated my cousins and my family!.”

Cheryl’s face turned red. “WELL YOU’RE NOTHING BUT AN ASSHOLE!”

“I’m an asshole?! I comforted you at your brother’s funeral! I was the one to see you get your ass dragged off by your mother while your father dogged at me!”

Cheryl was now on the verge of tears, so was Theo. There were no words left between them, and they stared at each other, this time like growling rabid dogs. “You are a fucking dickhead!”

“And you are a bitch!” Theo said as he marched off, as did Cheryl. Justin, Betty, Veronica, and the rest of the cheerleaders couldn’t help but watch the verbal argument. Justin shook his head as he hoped this night wasn’t going to be a bad one.

•••

Ethel and Kevin’s boyfriend, Joaquin, were also invited to the party. Theo didn’t understand why Ethel was being invited. “Now that's a girl you can go out with, and not that preppy bitch.” Rebecca said. She was also coming to the party. Theo couldn’t deny that Ethel was beautiful, even though she was a bit on the heavy side. Theo would have to consider later. He parked the truck and they got out and went up to the door, the girl mentioned opening the door for them when Theo rang the doorbell.

“Hey Ethel!” he said cheerfully to her. She smiled and waved back as Rebecca introduced herself as his older sister. Ethel then went back to looking out the window as Rebecca introduced herself to Archie and the rest of the gang who hadn’t met her. 

You know, this was exactly what Theo needed instead of crying over some high-class girl. This was all he needed. A nice little get together with his friends. “Guys, they’re really coming this time, hide!” Ethel said as everyone began to scramble into different parts of Archie’s house.

The door opened and the lights turned on. “Surprise!” they all said, greeting Jughead. “Hi. I’m Rebecca, Theo’s older sister. I think I saw you at the shower?”

“Yeah, I remember you.”

“Happy B-day Jughead.” Theo said, and Jughead gave him a little smile. “Thanks. Where’s Betty at?” he asked as he began to look around. He got his answer when the angelic voice of Betty singing happy birthday came to him, holding his birthday cake. Theo couldn’t help but smile at the sight. It kind of reminded him of Marilyn Monroe singing to J.F.K..

Except Jughead didn’t have a wife and was a teenager.

“That was haunting.” Jughead said as Betty kissed him on the cheek. “Nah it wouldn’t.” Theo disagreed.

“C’mon! Blow out the candles!” Veronica egged. Jughead did in one blow of air and everyone clapped. “Nice!” Theo and Rebecca said in unison. Theo and Rebecca went into the kitchen and saw Archie and Veronica hugging, who wasn’t in a “party mood”, which Jughead agreed with, since he wasn’t. This caused a small argument between the two, which lasted for a few seconds until the doorbell rang.

Everyone looked at the door with confusion. “How many people did you invite?” Jughead interrogated as he, Archie, and Veronica went towards the door. “No one! Inner circle only!”

“She’s right. No one else is supposed to be here.” Justin said. As everyone went towards the door, Theo’s heart started to beat faster. Were they caught? Did Archie’s dad come back early?

The door opened from the outside, and in came Cheryl Blossom, who had probably the entire high school behind her. “Oh. My. God.” Theo said, his heart about to jump out of his chest as she and every single high schooler from all walks of life entered the room.

“Did you really think you could have a party without inviting _moi_?” Cheryl asked. Theo couldn’t help but look as everyone entered the house.

“Or me?” Chuck Clayton asked as he came behind her.

“Fuck me in the ass with a double-barrelled shotgun!” Theo gritted his teeth, whispering as he facepalmed. 

“Archie, where you want the kegs?” Moose Mason asked. Theo looked at Archie and knew he was going to say-

“Screw it! One in the kitchen, one in the backyard!”

Fishpaste.

The crowd screamed and cheered at his response. Theo couldn’t help but look at Cheryl and Chuck, who were smirking as everyone entered the house.

•••

Minutes in and the party was in full swing. People were dancing, drinking, and grinding against each other as Dilton Doiley pumped out the jams from his D.J. set. Cheryl and Moose, or what Theo assumed to be Moose, grinded against each other and shared a passionate tongue kiss, Cheryl looking at him all the while. That made Theo’s blood boil hotter than water.

He had taken his anxiety medicine as prescribed but with everything going on, his nerves couldn’t help but be shot to piss. “We can leave if you want to, Theo.” Rebecca said as she looked on with him. Theo shook his head. “Screw it, we might as well stay and enjoy ourselves.” he sighed. He separated from Becca and began to search for something alcoholic to drink. Something to numb all of this. It was probably a bad idea to drink, but hell, this entire party was a bad idea.

Theo looked at the assorted drinks. It seemed everything under the sun was here. Beer, whiskey, wine, vodka. So much to choose from.

Actually, only one: the wine. The only alcoholic drink he ever drunk. He picked up the red solo cup and sniffed it, he took a drink from it, and another, and another, and another.

This wine, whatever it was, was pretty damn good.

“Mmm, mmm, mmm.” someone hummed in disapproval. Theo looked up and saw Joaquin and Kevin breaking their making out, and… the Serpent from the theater, who was recognizable without his leather jacket

Could this night get any worse?!

“You can cut the sexual tension in here with a knife. What’s up, Joaquin?” he said. “Nothing,” Joaquin answered. “You know F.P., Jughead’s dad, right Kevin?”

Jughead’s dad?! Oh my God! Why?!

“Yeah, we’ve met. You kicked me out of the White Worm.” Kevin stammered. “Good times. Joaquin, you wanna show me where the can is?”

Kevin and Joaquin stammered before Joaquin decided to show this F.P. where the toilet was. He thought it was over until he looked at Theo. “We-hell! Lover boy! Long time no see!” he said. Theo didn’t want to say anything to Jughead’s dad, but he scowled at him, which was enough.

“That’s… Theo Marshall, he’s new to town.” Kevin said. F.P’s face changed to that of curiosity. “Theo Marshall? Are you related to Robert Marshall?” 

“Yeeahh.” Theo said slowly, now awkward, however F.P. couldn’t read those signs. “Well what about that! Me and your dad used to play football together!” he patted Theo on the shoulder. “I would love to talk about it but I’m bustin’!” he said, and left.

Theo shook his head. _This night keeps getting stranger and stranger._

“Hey Theo!” a female voice said. Theo then turned around and saw Ginger Lopez approach him. Ginger was smiling ear-to-ear, so something was definitely wrong. “Whatcha doin’?” she asked. “Standing here, drinking.” he answered. Standing and drinking. Well, how about you drink and dance?”

“With who?” Theo chuckled, shrugging.

“With me!”

Either tonight was just a crazy-ass lucid dream, or this was real life. Ginger got close to him and wrapped his arms around his sides. “I think we need to show Cheryl a lesson, don’t you think?” she asked.

Theo stumbled. “Y-yeah, I guess.”

She giggled. “Great! Just follow me!” she said, taking Theo by the hand and leading him out into the living room. This had to be a big-ass hallucination or at least some sort of dream, this could not be real.

Theo felt as Ginger turned her back against him and began to grind up on him. Her clothes rubbing against his. Theo took a good whiff of her perfume sneaking up his nose.

Maybe he wasn’t dreaming. He smiled as he whooped with Ginger and took another swig of wine.

•••

An hour in and Theo now had a glass of wine, an entire glass, in his hand. The dance floor had calmed down, and now Theo and Ginger were over in the corner, sharing tongue kisses as each took a swig of wine. How many cups did he have of this stuff? One? Three? Hell it didn’t matter! He was having fun!

Over in another part of the room, Rebecca scrutinized her little brother, alongside Charlotte and Justin. Theo was clearly drunk, as his hair looked crazy from all the making out, grinding, and wine.

“Keep an eye out on him guys, I’m going to the bathroom.” Rebecca said as she went upstairs.

“Listen up party people!” Cheryl yelled, and the house quieted. “Everyone has their secrets and their fair share of sinning. That’s one thing my brother’s death revealed. So let’s play a little game to get those secrets out in the open.” she then locked the door. Theo smiled to himself. This was going to be good.

“What the hell is Secrets and Sins?” Jughead said, standing behind Cheryl.

“It is a variation of Truth or Dare, where we own our truths by telling it like it is.” she announced. “I’ll start the game with Veronica Lodge.”

Theo’s eyes turned to her.

“Naturally.”

“Let’s begin with the day you and your mafia wife of a mother came to town for a fresh start! Tell us, V, what’s so fresh about defiling Archie Andrews in a closet?”

“That was your doing!” Veronica scowled. Cheryl quickly interrupted. “Moving on to dear daddy Lodge. Isn’t it true that your dad, who is in prison, illegally bought the drive-in land?

“And that makes me wonder: What else is he doing from behind bars?” 

Theo took a swig. Things were getting intense now. “Well, I can’t speak for my father,” Veronica began. “But I can think of someone with a very dirty secret. Specifically, Cheryl killing her own brother.”

“Oh shit!” Theo whispered to Ginger. “This is getting goo-hoo-hood!” 

“Everyone knows how much I loved my brother-”

“Exactly, but did you love him in ways a sister shouldn’t? And as you got older, Jason thought it was unnatural. So he chose Polly over you, and so you shot him between the eyes with one of your fathers many hunting rifles.”

“This game is sick!” Dilton Doiley said. “I wanna go next!”

Chuck smiled from ear to ear. “That's the spirit Doiley!”

“I saw Ms. Grundy’s car by Sweetwater River the day Jason went missing!”

Archie didn’t like the sound of that.  
“I told Betty and Jughead, and then Ms. Grundy quit her job and left Riverdale just a few days later. And let’s not forget that Archie Andrews was also there the same morning.”

Cheryl gasped. “Oh my God! Color me shocked! Archie Andrews. Is that how you became a mediocre musician overnight? Because you and Ms. Nerd Girl were pulling a Mary Kay Letourneau?”

“Don’t say anything Archie.” Veronica whispered.

“Andrews was banging a teacher?! Well damn, I wish I would’ve known, I would’ve added you and Grundy to the Book of Conquests.” Chuck exclaimed. Theo rolled his eyes.

“Classy, Chuck, as always.” Veronica said.

“Wait, that also explains why Archie can’t keep a girlfriend to save his life. He’s got mommy issues! Anything to say for yourself, Archibald? Were you the victim or the perp?”

“Dilton Doiley plays with guns.” Betty said but Cheryl shook her head. “So?! Doiley’s a psychopath, everyone knows that.”

“I think it's my turn now.” Chuck said. “Boy, do I have a story to tell, starring Betty Cooper.”

Theo scowled and got up from his seat.

“Leave her the hell alone Chuck!” Archie said

“Shut up Andrews! You may get a free peepshow every night, but you do not know her! Hell, she doesn’t know herself!

“Everyone knows why I got suspended, but now how… She dressed up like a hooker, in a shitty wig, drugged me, and handcuffed me in the jacuzzi. I almost drowned until she got me to say what she wanted to hear.” Chuck announced, smiling like a Cheshire cat now.

“And then she lost it! She thought she was Polly, her sister!” he turned around. “But hey, you knew all about this right, Jughead?” 

All of a sudden, Jughead punched Chuck square on the cheek, knocking him back a few steps. “Kick his ass Jughead!” Theo slurred. F.P. began to jog over as Jughead’s punch was dodged by Chuck, who in turn punched him back in the face, causing him to fall and break a table, knocking over food which was on it.

“ENOUGH! THAT’S ENOUGH!” F.P. yelled as he grabbed Chuck.

“GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME SNAKE!” Chuck shouted back as F.P. began to wrestle him to the door.

“GET OUT! GET OUT!” F.P. yelled like a club bouncer telling the drunkard to leave. He pushed Chuck down the stairs and shoved him. “GO!”

Theo was stumbling outside with everyone else as Chuck turned around, nose flaring. He then turned around and walked away. However, Theo was on his tail. “Hey shitface!” he slurred as he walked down the sidewalk. Rebecca’s face retorted in horror as she looked at her little brother. “Oh God!” she exclaimed.

Theo didn’t waste any time hitting him across the head with the wine bottle. The crowd gasped as it shattered into tiny glass shards and Chuck fell to the ground and recoiled in horror, as he saw the drunken teen point at him with the broken bottle. “How’d you... _*burp*_ how’d you like that mess?” he slurred.

The side of Chuck’s head had a sizable cut which bled, but he didn’t care. He was more worried about the sight of Theo. “Told you I’d… I’d bust your skull open!” 

Chuck got up quickly and ran away from Theo as fast as he could. “Now it’s my turn!” Theo proclaimed as he drunkenly waltzed back to the Andrews residence.

“Theo!” Rebecca shouted as she jogged towards him. “Theo-”

“I SAID IT’S MY FUCKING TURN!” he screamed, acting like he was going to hit Becca with the bottle. She stepped back as Theo looked at the shocked and horrified crowd. “Let’s start with Cheryl... B-Blossom.” he slurred, pointing the bottle at her. “Cheryl… You… You knew how much I cared about you. You knew how much I cared for you, and you t-threw it all away like it was nothing!” 

Cheryl shook her head. “Theo, please-”

“NO! When I first met… met you from afar at the thing with Jason, I thought you were beautiful, but I didn’t know how much of a b-bitch you were. My friend Justin and C-Charlotte warned me about you, and I didn’t listen.

“We hated each other at first, but it seemed like there was something between us… maybe that was just my s-stupid romantic ass, maybe it was because I’m aut-autistic.” tears formed in his eyes. “Yeah! I have Ass-Aspergers. High-functioning! There you have it folks! Read it and weep!”

The crowd seemed unphased as he looked back at Cheryl. “Like For-Forrestt Gump used to say, ‘I might not be a smart man but I know what love is.’” his voice began to break. “I didn’t care Cheryl, if we just m-made out at the drive-in. I had feelings for you because I thought in some sort of way, you understood me.”

“Theo,” Cheryl's face was that of sadness. “I do-”

“OH _*burp*_ YEAH?! Well why did you say you didn’t lie-like me then at the shower?! Like you said?! Made me almost c-cry in front of everyone?! HUH?!” Cheryl bit her lip as Theo approached her. “I helped you with your f-family shit. I h-hugged you at the funeral. I drove you home. We sang a romantic do-duet. You comforted me when I cried, and what do I get in r-return?! Nothing! I always get n-nothing!”

“You know what?! F-fuck you! If you hate me then I hate y-you! I-I made out with Ginner, to get my ree-revenge, and it did- _*Burp*_ didn’t work! I can’t stand to be in the same place as you ever since what happened! I just want you to-to… to drown!”

The crowd gasped in shock as tears ran down Theo’s and Cheryl’s faces. Cheryl was sobbing now as she slapped Theo on the chest multiple times. “I fucking hate you! I hate you!” she shouted, and ran off, crying.

F.P. Jones, who was fascinated at the sight, turned to everyone. “Alright, pack your things, party’s over! Go home!” he said, and everyone did so. Charlotte and Justin ran up to Theo, who was still drunk, broken bottle still in hand. Alice Cooper, who had run outside to the commotion, and F.P. Jones, who had just got done talking to his son, ran up beside Theo.

“I-I told her, didn’t I?” Theo slurred. 

“Theo, man, that… that was terrible.” Justin said, shaking his head. 

“Theo, I think… I think you need to cool down.” Alice said, not knowing what to say to the sight of her red-faced, shit-faced cousin. 

“I can’t now… everything… everything is spinning.” Theo said as he felt his vision become blurry. He soon became dizzy. He then threw the rest of the shattered bottle to the ground, placed his palm on his forehead, and proclaimed: “Oh God, my head!” and he fell face first on the Andrew's lawn.

“I’ll… I’ll take him back to my place. My parents are gone, his parents don’t need to see this shit.” Justin said as he picked him up. “I’ll… I’ll see him tomorrow morning.” Rebecca said, looking at her passed out brother, nodding.

“Tell your mom he passed out at the party, tired.” Justin said. “Yeah, I… I will.” she said. As Justin and Charlotte carried the passed out Theo to Justin’s humble abode, Rebecca looked at Alice. “Can I stay with you aunt Alice?” she asked.

“Why-”

She began sobbing. “Please?!” she pleaded. Alice looked at a loss of words, and after a few seconds, nodded. “Y-yeah, go ahead.”

Rebecca kept sobbing as she entered the house.

•••

Theo woke up at 8:30 in the morning, head busting. He groaned as he rubbed his eyes with one hand and held his head with the other. He jumped when he saw that the blanket wasn’t his, nor the couch, nor the house!

“Hello?!” he yelled, frightened now. “Where am I?!”

Justin entered the living room as fast as he could. “Calm down man, you’re at my house!” 

Theo groaned as he laid back down. “I feel like absolute shit. What happened?” Charlotte, who had entered the room, sputtered. “You… drunk a lot of wine.”

Theo kept rubbing his head. “Are you sure that’s it?”

•••

Theo wished he didn’t ask if that was it. Rebecca came over from the Cooper Residence, and showed her the video that she had recorded. “...I just want you to-to… to drown!” the drunken Theo said as the sober Theo watched in terror at the inner demon he had released from drinking wine. A more evil him. He shook his head as his eyes welled up. “I… I can’t believe myself.” he said as he watched Cheryl slapping his chest, saying she hated him. 

“It was bad… you were bad drunk, had too much wine.” Rebecca shook her head. Theo shook his head. “I gotta talk to Cheryl! I gotta-”

“I wouldn’t do that right now, Theo.” Charlotte began. “You’ve made her very upset, Theo. Very, VERY upset. If I was you, I’d wait.” 

“I can’t!”

“You’ll have to, Theo. You really have to. You done and said a lot of shit and it’d be best to wait.” Rebecca said. Theo shook his head. “God, I’m such a fucking idiot!”

“Don’t say that!” Rebecca exclaimed, nearly wanting to slap her brother for saying that. “What you did was… terrible. But you were drunk, you let things slip out you normally wouldn’t say.”

“But I practically told her to go kill herself, Becca. How the fuck am I supposed to not think of myself as stupid, when she’s probably at her mansion, thinking about drowning herself?! For all I know, she’s probably done it now!” he threw his hands up.

“She’s alive, but she’s not feeling good.” Justin said. “I was able to stalk around her Twitter and her other things. She keeps sharing sad shit.”

“Exactly-”

“But that doesn’t mean you have to go to her now. You might make things worse. I’m not saying you will, but it’s a possibility.” 

Theo looked out the window for a moment, thinking, and then he looked back, nodding. “Okay, I’ll wait.” Theo said.

Back at the Marshall Residence, Theo sat in his bedroom in the lamplight. After several hours, he still couldn’t believe what he did. Hitting Chuck in the side of the head with a wine bottle (Even though he deserved it), acting like he was going to hit his sister with said bottle, telling Cheryl all of those things in front of everyone. Jesus, what was happening to him? What was wrong with him?

He looked out through the curtains of his window, watching the snow come down. Winter had come early to Riverdale, and with it, the overwhelming sadness of a teenager.

A knock on the door. Theo went up to open it, and his parents stood outside, looking at him. “Theo, we need to talk downstairs.” his dad said.


	10. Theo In Winter

Theo’s parents sat in the kitchen, with Theo himself sitting across from them. As the video of Theo drunkenly confessing to Cheryl ended, they laid down Rebecca’s phone. His dad was the first to speak.

“I’m not mad, but I’m not happy about this either.” He shook his head, his mother nodded in agreement. “I’m very disappointed in you, Theo. I mean, this is beyond upsetting to watch, to see you act like this.”

“I was drunk, dad!”

“I know you were! But all those things you said to her, telling her you wished she drowned…” he shook his head again. “I told you not to see-“

“I know, but it’s not my fault! She came uninvited with the whole school! We didn’t invite her! You can ask Betty!” Theo argued. 

“Why did you stay, then?” His mom asked. “I wanted to be there for Jughead, for everyone. That was his birthday party, I wanted to leave but…” he sighed, shaking his head. “Jughead is my friend, like Justin and Charlotte, and Archie and Veronica. I couldn’t just up and leave.” 

His parents didn’t respond. A few seconds of silence later: “Why didn’t you bitch about this when we sang up on stage?”

They were silent for a few more seconds. “I thought I heard the name Blossom, but I wasn’t paying attention. I didn’t know who she was until she showed up with Penelope and Clifford. You didn’t tell us anything about her when she came over either, but that’s not your fault.” His father finally said.

“But it doesn’t matter. We won’t ground you this time. But next time, and I don’t care if you have feelings for her or not, if we catch you around her, talking to her or whatever, we’re sending you to that other high school on the Southside.” He threatened. 

Theo didn’t have any choice but to shrug and shake his head. “Fine.” He said, and got up. He went back upstairs to his room. God forbid if he went to that school, he heard that place was terrible. Drugs and crime, gangs and the sort, he didn’t belong in a place like that.

It would seem he didn’t have a choice.

•••

Back home in Kentucky, he lived close to the Appalachian Mountains, which meant winding roads in some areas. So when it snowed, they would call off school for a day or so because of the treacherous, icy roads. However in Riverdale, that wasn’t the case it would seem, because when he woke up, there was still school. So, he put on his hoodie, zipped it up and put the hood on, and went on his way.

Theo knew the perfect song for this.  _ Harry In Winter  _ it was called. Part of the  _ Goblet of Fire  _ movie soundtrack. He played it, selecting it with his thumb as he walked through the snow, looking out to the sunny distance. The sun was probably why they still had school, because it could melt snow in several minutes. Or at least he thought so.

The song was still playing as he entered the school, drowning out the noise of wet, squeaky shoes and the chattering of students. He took his hood off and saw, surprisingly, that no one was staring at him. Or at least not yet. 

However, when he passed Chuck by, Chuck looked down. The cut on his head had been stitched. Did it cut him that deep? Theo hoped and prayed that his dad wouldn’t try to press charges or sue him and his family if Chuck told him about what happened. He was the coach after all, and everyone knew that if your enemy was connected, and you wasn’t, you were screwed.

Theo entered the cafeteria, and of course, saw the gang seated where they were usually seated. He sat his stuff down and seated himself beside Archie and Jughead. “Good morning class.” He groaned. “Mornin’” everyone said, except for Jughead.

“My dad was talking about you this morning, talked about how it was strange that he saw you at the drive-in and that the party.” He said. Theo nodded. “Yeah, I saw him with some other woman at the drive-in, me and Cheryl…”

_ Him and Cheryl _ . He had nearly forgotten about everything that had happened. He looked at the table, nearly staring at it. “Yeah.” He finished, nodding.

“Remember what I said Theo, just wait a while to talk to her.” Justin reminded. Theo didn’t say anything. He knew the drill. Charlotte then spoke. “Are you heading to homecoming, Theo?” She asked. 

Theo groaned. “I didn’t even know we were having a homecoming. Honestly, I don’t even want to go.” Everyone then groaned. “C’mon, you need to go instead of sitting around in the house!” Betty exclaimed.

Theo scoffed. “After everything that happened, I would rather stay sit around in the house.” 

Archie patted his back. “We’re all going, Theo.”

“ _ With dates. _ ” Theo added. “You know who has two thumbs and doesn’t have a date? This guy!” He pointed at himself. 

“So? There’s probably millions of other people who are coming without a date.” Veronica said.

“Oh! Rebecca talked about you going out with Ethel Muggs!” Betty said. That prompted disapproval from Justin.

“I don’t know, Ethel is a bit… weird. Like I’m weird, Jughead is, everyone is, but Ethel is  _ weird  _ weird.” 

“Ask out Josie!” Charlotte recommended, but everyone disagreed. “Nooo!” Betty exclaimed. “She’s friends with Cheryl, and she’s sort of mean.”

“How many people, who are rude or snobbish, are friends with Cheryl?“ Veronica asked. 

“Please stop talking about Cheryl!” Theo snapped. Everyone looked at Theo, whose face was slightly red. He shook his head. “I’m sorry, it’s just that what happened last weekend is getting on my nerves.” He said. Justin patted him on the back in assurance. “It’s okay, man.”

•••

At lunch, the gang once again sat together, and unfortunately for Theo, Cheryl came over to their table. Theo was already nearly freezing in the cold, and now this?

“Sorry to interrupt, but I have an announcement.” she started off. Theo slowly, and hesitantly, turned his head to look up at her, out of respect to listen. God, it felt like he was being tortured, even though it was on his own free will.

“One that tangentially involves you, Betty.”

_ Of fucking course _ .

“I’m taking Polly as my date and we’re campaigning as co-queens for homecoming.” Cheryl finished. “Because why?” Betty asked.

“Because, nightmare smurfette,”

Theos hand clenched into a fist.

“By all rights, it should’ve been Polly and Jason on that stage being crowned. That was the next best thing.” She said those last words, nodding and smiling.

“So, don’t forget to vote, and I’ll see everyone at my coronation!” Cheryl said, and she walked off. As she walked off, Theo’s heart continued to beat, not because of Cheryl pissing him off, but because of the opportunity to tell Cheryl he was sorry was passing by with every single step she walked. He knew what Justin said.

But fuck it.

“Theo, don’t-“ Justin said as Theo got up and walked up to Cheryl, who was nearly inside the school. “Hey! Cheryl!” Theo called out. Cheryl turned around and looked at Theo.

“What is it?” She asked. Theo cleared his throat. “Can we talk about what happened last weekend?” He asked. Cheryl's mouth opened like she was about to say something, but no words came out. She looked down at the ground for a few seconds, and then back at Theo.

“Yeah, sure, we can.”

And they did, however they went somewhere private and quiet, or rather one of the places that were. They stood outside the gym in the hallway, across from each other. Theo’s back leaning against the wall.

Theo spoke first. “I’m sorry about that night. I was mad, stressed… I know that there isn’t another excuse other than I was drunk.” 

Cheryl nodded her head, and was silent for a moment. “It was my fault too though.” She admitted. Theo raised an eyebrow. “How?” He asked. 

“The whole party crashing was my idea,” Cheryl began. “I brought Chuck into it too-“

“After all that?” Theo's eyes went wide, and he scoffed and crossed his arms. “What the hell are you doing, playing both sides so you can come on top?” 

“No! I just wanted chaos and revenge… but I see where that led.” Cheryl sighed. Theo nodded, but then shook his head. “My sister took a video of me… telling you those things, my parents were pissed.”

“I can imagine.” Cheryl nodded.

“I shouldn’t be talking to you. If my parents caught us or rather, caught  _ me  _ talking to you, they’re gonna send me to that high school in the Southside, and God forbid…” he shook his head.

There was silence. Did he just make this conversation awkward? 

“Did you really mean those things? About liking me, being autistic, and stuff? Are you serious?” Cheryl asked. Theo looked at Cheryl in the eyes, which was something he couldn’t do all the time, but just this once.

“As a heart attack, about everything.” He said. Cheryl then stood beside Theo. “I didn’t know you were autistic, you act… normal.”

“I didn’t find out until 8th grade. Someone asked the teacher if I was because I went outside before a fire drill, and words got mixed up, and someone told me the teacher said it.”

Cheryl grimaced. She would bully people for what she considered acting annoying or stupid, but would never bully anyone over their mental disorder. She would do that sort of bullying though, when she went to Riverdale Middle.

But she knew better later on.

Theo shook his head. “I don’t even know why the fuck I’m opening up to you! You probably think I’m crazy for doing this!” He said, annoyed with himself.

“No! No! I don’t! It’s just… that’s a lot to take in.” Cheryl said. Theo stopped leaning against the wall and stood. “I do like you… but I guess we need to take a break after what I did, and start over.” 

Everything was quiet, longer than it should’ve been, until Cheryl nodded. “Yeah! Yeah… I think we can do that.”

Theo turned around to leave until Cheryl grabbed his arm. “Hey! Are you coming to homecoming tonight?” he shrugged. “I don’t know… everyone has a date except me so I’m thinking about passing this up.”

Cheryl raised an eyebrow. “But you and Ginger…”

“What happened between us was nothing. Besides, I’m not looking to go out with her.” Theo said. Cheryl nodded. “Well, will you at least come? I mean… I know you wanna do this break thing but I’d like you to come.”

Theo nodded. “Yeah, I can come then.”

Cheryl gave Theo a small smile. “Good, I’ll see you there.”

•••

When Theo came back home, his mom was ecstatic about something. “Me and your father are going to the dance!” Theo’s mother announced with a look of excitement on her face. “Oh! I’m so excited!” 

Theo raised an eyebrow. “It’s just a dance, mom. I don’t know why you are so excited.” his dad then spoke up. “Well son, you would feel the same way if you were meeting some old high school friends.” 

“Oh, I haven’t talked to Mary in a long time!” She looked at Theo. “That’s your friend Archie’s mother!” She said. Theo nodded. “Well that’s pretty cool, I’m heading up to my room.” 

“Wait!” His dad said. “Your mom pretty much said it, but we’re heading to that little dance the high school is having. You remember what I said about-“

“Cheryl. Yeah, I know.” Theo interrupted, rolling his eyes.

“Exactly, so no being around her, and you and your sister better get along, she’s coming with us too.” 

Theo looked down and rolled his eyes. Thank God his father didn’t see it. “We will dad.” he said, and went into his room.

•••

Theo entered the high school like many times before, taking in the retro decorations that hung around the entrance. His parents were dressed in formal, but not too formal attire, while his sister wore a blood red dress, her hair fixed up in a bun.

As for Theo, he wore a long sleeved checkered shirt, a vest, with a pair of khakis and black dress shoes. He picked it out himself.

“OhmyGodMary!” His mom was reduced back to a teenager as she hugged her old smiling friend. Mary’s date looked over at his father. “Robert Marshall.” He said.

“Fred Andrews.” They shook hands as Theo and Becca watched on awkwardly, just wanting to head to the gym and avoid their parents. “I’m heading with Mary to the bathroom, Robert.” His mother said.

His dad nodded. “Alright, we’ll be heading to the gym.” They did so. The gym had the same lighting and color it had at the beginning of the year, with the only difference being the outrageous amount of eighties decorations hanging on about any part of the gym.

“So this is it, huh?” Rebecca asked. Theo nodded. “Yep. This is my high school.” 

She nodded. “Nice.” 

Theo then walked and looked around for Justin and Charlotte through the combined crowd of teens and adults. He passed Cheryl, who must’ve been waiting for Polly. He eventually found Justin and Charlotte, the latter stuffing her mouth with a tiny sandwich. “God, these are good!” She said with a mouthful of bread.

“It must be for you to talk with your mouth full.” Theo chimed. Charlotte flipped off Theo, which made him and Justin laugh. “So, where’s your date?” Justin asked. 

Theo rolled his eyes. “What’d I tell you?”

“Something about root beer, right?”

Theo nodded. “Yeah, something about root beer, Patrick.” He said sarcastically. 

“C’mon, you can have fun without a date!” Charlotte said. Theo was silent for a few seconds, and then he sighed. “Fine, I guess you’re right.” 

“I’m always right!”

The next song began with bass and clapping. “Ah, now this is my jam.” Charlotte said as the trio moved out on the dance floor, finding an empty spot.

Thus the dancing began, from  _ The Safety Dance  _ to  _ Blue Monday _ , they danced the night away. For Theo, the thought of having a date faded away slowly.

Eventually, Mayor McCoy got up on the stage, making an announcement. Seems like she always did that. Theo looked around in boredom, wanting her to finish her speech, until he laid his eyes on Cheryl.

Wait, Polly wasn’t with her. Did Theo miss her, or did she not come at all? Surely she would be here with Cheryl.

Archie and Veronica were introduced and they began to do a duet of  _ Kids In America _ . Theo would’ve danced, but his focus still sat on Cheryl. She seemed highly uninterested, standing there with her arms crossed.

That wasn’t the only thing. She was growing increasingly upset as the song went on. Theo didn’t see his parents anywhere, so he made his way towards Cheryl. 

She moved, walking through the crowd. Theo excused his way through the crowd as he tried to get his way to her. As she exited the gym, that changed to running. He bumped his way through everyone, breathing as he escaped the suffocating people. 

“Cheryl! Cheryl!” Theo called out as he finally got behind her. She looked magnificent in her red dress. She turned around and looked at Theo with tears in her eyes. “What?” She asked. 

“What’s wrong?” He asked. Cheryl shook her head. “Polly’s not here with me, what else?” She answered. “No, actually, everything is wrong! My parents, this godforsaken town, everything!” She sat on the floor, leaning her back against the wall.

Theo sat down with her. “I can understand the parent part.” He said. He put her arm around her. “I’m sorry that Polly isn’t here with you.” He said.

Cheryl shook her head. “I just wish things were different.”

“Would you like to dance?” Theo asked. Cheryl got up. “Ok-“

“No. Uh, here. Since you don’t want to be in there.”

Cheryl chuckled. “What? Here?” Theo laughed. “Why not? I could look up some songs.” He said. Cheryl was now smiling a bit. “Yeah, that sounds good. Slow?”

Theo nodded in confirmation. “Yeah. Slow dances.”

Theo got out his phone, and got on the YouTube app, looking up slow, romantic eighties music. He eventually found a playlist, and he sat his phone down on the floor at full volume. The  [ first song ](https://youtu.be/JMKi9qVrGWM) began to play.

Theo brought his hands to her hips, and Cheryl brought her arms around his neck as they began to dance, spinning around the hall.

“You look beautiful tonight, as always.” Theo said, which made Cheryl blush. “Thanks… you look very handsome tonight.” She said. Theo smiled. “Thank you.” 

The song continued as Theo and Cheryl looked at each other. While he didn’t know what Cheryl was thinking, Theo was thinking that this school year, even though it was barely over, was the most strangest and dramatic out of the others he had. It was strange too, he had to admit, with all the happenings.

Theo looked into Cheryl’s eyes for a few seconds and hesitated. He looked down at his feet.

“You can kiss me… if you want.” Cheryl said, as if reading Theo’s mind. Theo looked back up at Cheryl. “Okay… do you want me to?” he asked.

“Of course you dunce!” Cheryl chuckled, which made Theo chuckle. 

“Well, I want to say this: you know, even if we’ve had our differences and fights, you’re very beautiful, and I don’t know why you’re so alluring to me, but I like you. I don’t care what my family or friends say about you, and-”

Cheryl put a hand on Theo’s cheek. “Theo.”

“Yeah?”

“Stop talking.” she smiled. 

It was then that Theo and Cheryl shared their first kiss. Unlike the one they shared at the drive-in theater back in August, this one was truly romantic, truly sharing their feelings towards one another and not out of pure lust. Cheryl melted into him as they stopped dancing and continued.

“THEODORE ISAAC MARSHALL!!!”

The two jumped and stopped kissing, opening their eyes. Theo saw the red faces of his mom and dad, and his sister, who had a worried look on her face. His dad marched towards him like a drill sergeant to an army recruit. “What did I tell you about hanging out with this girl, Theodore?! Do you understand a bit of English?!” he said, pointing at Cheryl.

Several more footsteps were heard and Kevin, Betty, Archie, Veronica, and their parents were in full sight of what currently was happening. This was eventually followed by Justin and Charlotte.

“I honestly don’t care anymore, dad-”

“What?! What do you not care about anymore?!”  
“THIS FUCKING FAMILY FEUD!” Theo yelled. “THIS BULLSHIT BETWEEN US AND THE COOPERS AND THE BLOSSOMS! I’VE HAD IT! You know, dad? Me and Cheryl may have had our fights, but honestly, I think I’m in love with her.”

“Aw fuck! You don’t know anything about love, son.” his dad said. Theo nodded. “That may be true, but we actually have feelings for each other. We’ve talked about stuff I didn’t want to talk about with anyone else at the time. I’ve comforted her, she’s comforted me. We like each other, no matter what you or her parents have to say.”

“You know… he’s right, Robert.” Archie’s father spoke out. “You can’t keep your kid from loving someone forever.”

His father acted like he was going to say something, but he closed his mouth. He turned back around to Theo. “Do you really love her, Theo? Do you have feelings for her?”

“Yes, I do.” Theo said. “Right, Cheryl?”

No answer.

“Cheryl?”

He turned around and saw that Cheryl was gone. Finally, Alice spoke up. “We have to leave, guys.”

“Why’s that?” Theo asked.

“Jughead’s father was arrested for the murder of Jason Blossom.”


	11. Truth Revealed

Theo laid on his bedroom, looking up at the ceiling. He had tried to contact Cheryl, but with no luck. His parents hadn’t talked to him since leaving the high school about an hour earlier, and he told his sister he wanted to be alone. A knock on the door came.

He shook his head and stood up from the bed and began to walk to the door. A knock came again. “Hey Theo, it’s dad.” 

_ Great _ , he opened the door and his dad, who had changed into his sleeping clothes, looked at him. “Can I come in?” 

“Yeah, sure.” Theo answered, and he moved to let his dad through. He sat down at his desk where his laptop was, and sighed. After a few moments of awkward silence past, he finally spoke. “You really like Cheryl, don’t you boy?”

Theo nodded. “Yeah, I do.”  
His dad then nodded. “You know, I don’t want you to go through what I went through, that’s why I was afraid for you to be around the Blossoms. You already suffered enough with that one girl a few years ago.”

He cleared his throat. “Archie’s dad was absolutely right. I shouldn’t be like this. Me and your mom talked about this and… we’ll let you be around Cheryl.”

Theo nodded. “Thanks dad. Am I still going to that other high school?” 

“Why should you even ask that? Of course you ain’t.” his dad answered.

He then stood up and patted his only son on the shoulder. “I’ll leave you alone, boy.” he was a few feet away from the door until Theo spoke up.

“I’ve tried to get a hold of her, but she hasn’t answered.” he said. His dad turned around and looked at Theo. “She probably needs some time alone, Theo. Just leave her be until you see her at school.” he said, and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.

Theo laid down on the bed once again until he heard something tap against the window of his room. He looked over at it and scowled, and then he got a text from Betty.

_ Betty: Do you want to help us find Jughead? _

•••

Theo didn’t exactly want to go out into the cold, but because he wanted to help his friends, he voted for it. Charlotte and Justin had also tagged along with the gang, as they approached Pop’s. 

“Jughead.” Archie said as they approached him, who was leaning back against the seat. They sat down with him. “Jug… I’m… we’re sorry about everything.” Betty whispered. He didn’t reply. Archie then spoke up. “Jughead, I screwed up. We all did. Breaking into your dad’s trailer was wrong but some good came out of it.”

“I’m pretty sure my dad was arrested for murder.” Jughead finally said, looking away from everyone as he stared out into nothing. “That gun wasn’t there when we broke in.” Veronica whispered. Jughead turned his head and looked at Veronica. “What?”

“Someone put it there after we left, Jug.” she said. Jughead looked at Archie and Betty to get confirmation if this was true, and they nodded. He then looked over at Theo, Justin, and Charlotte.

“It’s true Jughead.” Theo nodded. 

“How?” Jughead asked.

•••

The school had a suffocating aura around as students talked non-stop about the arrest of F.P. Jones. Coupled with the events of the gang head to the sheriff's office to talk to Kevin’s dad, only to find out F.P. had confessed. That morning, Theo approached the table where Cheryl was sitting, his hands in his pockets. “Cheryl.” he said, and she looked up at him.

“I heard about what happened… I’m sorry.” he said. Because he was friends with Jughead, he expected Cheryl to scold him. It wouldn’t be the first she’d do something bad after something romantic happened between them. “Thanks Theo.” She said. 

“May I sit with you?” Theo asked. Cheryl nodded, and squeezed in with the other students gathered around her. He put his arm around her and she laid her head on his shoulder in response. The solemn moment ended as soon as it began as the whole cafeteria went silent as Jughead approached.

Theo’s heart started to race. He knew this wasn’t going to be good.

“I’m sorry, Cheryl.” was the only words he said as Cheryl stood up and approached him.

She slapped him across the face and began to hit his chest in a fit of rage.  _ If it’s not one thing, it’s another _ Theo thought as he got up and pulled Cheryl away from him as she began to cry and march away.

“ENOUGH!” came the booming voice of Mr. Weatherbee as he entered the cafeteria. “Mr. Jones, you need to come with me. Right now!” 

“He wasn’t doing anything wrong!” Archie argued.

“Now that’s bullshit!” Theo also argued. He expected Weatherbee to turn around and drag him to the office too, but instead, he kept walking.

Theo sighed and shook his head, grabbing his things as he went on to class. 

• • •

At the end of history class, Theo went looking for Cheryl. Thankfully, it didn’t take him a long time to find her. She wasn’t at her locker, rather sitting on a bench besides the stairs that led to the second floor. Theo walked up to her, nervous after what had happened this morning.

“Hey Cheryl,” Theo said. Cheryl looked up at Theo. Theo was tongue-tied for a moment, however managed to say the words. “Is it alright if I sit with you?” He asked. “No. I was actually about to leave.” She said quickly, and got up. Theo followed.

“What’s wrong with you, Cheryl? I know you’re upset but there has to be something more than that.” He exclaimed. They stopped at the student lounge. She turned around. “It’s everything!” She threw her hands up. “Everyone comes up to me, and they say they’re so thankful my brother’s killer is in jail. It doesn’t feel that way! Everything feels wrong!” Cheryl sniffled. 

Theo was about to hug Cheryl but she pushed him away. “Stop! Okay?! I don’t need your sympathy!”

Theo flinched and lowered his head. “I just want to help-“

“I don’t need your help!” She yelled. The late bell rang, signaling the beginning of class. They were late. As if Cheryl read Theo’s mind, she then said: “Nor do I want to hear about us, or how your parents are sending you to the Southside.”

Theo was beginning to get upset, his heartbeat rapidly accelerating. “Actually, my parents know how I feel about you.” He said quickly, which made Cheryl calm down a little. “My dad told me they weren't going to send me to the Southside. That they understand how I feel about you.

“Dammit Cheryl, I’m in love with you. I know… I know it’s so much to take in but with everything that has occurred over the past few months… I just feel that way.” 

Cheryl kept looking at Theo. He thought at first she was going to lean in for a kiss, or confess her feelings. Instead, she sighed and shook her head.

“Theo… I can’t talk about this right now. I need some time alone.” she said, and brushed past Theo, heading to class. At the doorway, Justin and Charlotte stood there looking at him. Without any words, Theo pushed past them as he went to his classroom.

•••

Last night, Betty and her parents dragged Polly out of the Blossom mansion. That was what Alice had told Theo’s parents the next morning. “Did she say anything… about me?” Theo asked Betty when they were going to see Joaquin. Betty shook her head. “No, nothing was said. We just dragged Polly out of there. There was a big argument but other than that…” Betty shook her head again, once again confirming Cheryl said nothing about him.

Theo sighed. “Well that figures. Another possible relationship I fucked up royally.” 

“You didn’t screw anything up, Theo. Cheryl’s just upset about her brother, she has been for a while.” Betty said. Theo didn’t say anything after that.

“I… I assumed he did.” Joaquin told Jughead. “I never saw him pull the trigger.”

“But why do you assume that he did it?” Betty asked.

Joaquin cleared his throat. “On July 11th, I got a call from F.P. while I was sleeping, said he needed help with a clean-up in the basement at the White Wyrm. The basement is off-limits to everyone. I go there and see Jason’s body laying there on the floor. We stuffed his body in the freezer, and cleaned up the mess.”

“Did F.P. do any jobs for my father?” Veronica asked after he was finished. Joaquin shrugged. “I don’t know, but I overheard F.P. and Mustang talk about some rich guy. That was the guy Archie got into a fight with at the Wyrm.” 

“Where’s Mustang at? We’ll ask him about it.”

Joaquin shook his head. “That’s not a good idea.”

“Tell us or we’ll turn you in to my dad.” Kevin said. Joaquin later spilled the details

•••

Archie, Veronica, Kevin and Joaquin had gone to Mustang’s apartment, only to discover his dead body. Sheriff Keller said it was possibly an overdose. Later that day, before Joaquin was going to “lay low”, he told Kevin some details that he didn’t want to say around the rest. That night, Kevin, Jug, and Betty went off to Route Forty, where Jason’s getaway car had been torched, and found a bag with Jason’s varsity jacket.

Theo met up with the gang that night, and they all looked at the jacket, which was laying on the floor.

“This is meant to help us?” Justin said, shaking his head.

“Looks more like incriminating evidence to me. It just shows that his confession was true.” Kevin said

Jughead interjected. “And he destroyed the car.”

Betty shook her head. “Why would he say the jacket is dangerous?”

“I can ask my father.” a new voice said. They turned around and saw Veronica, who entered the room. “He should know, considering that he hired the Serpents to kill Jason.” she gave a sad look over to Jughead. “Which probably means that your dad pulled the trigger, Jughead. I’m sorry.” Everyone was silent for a moment, until Betty spoke up.

“No! I’m not giving up!” she picked up the jacket. “Arch, put this on!” Archie was confused but did so, and patted Archie down. “There’s a hole.” she said, and Kevin shook his head. “Alright, now we’re just grasping at straws-”

“No, I don’t know about you guys, but I always lose my chapstick in the lining if I have a hole.” she argued, and searched inside the jacket. After a few seconds, she pulled out a silver USB drive.

Kevin once again his head, but this time in amazement. “Nancy Drew is back at it.” Theo said.

They got Jughead’s laptop and plugged the drive into the USB port. They searched it, and found one video. They played it.

The video started off with Jason tied up in a chair, and a Serpent poking at his chest, yelling at him. Then, the most unbelievable thing happened, and Theo thought he was dreaming. He opened his mouth in amazement and terror.

“Oh my God.” Veronica gasped as Clifford Blossom entered the room where Jason was being held, hands in his pockets.

He put his hand down into one of Jason’s pant pockets and got out a ring. The ring he had given to Polly. Clifford looked at it for a second and put it into his pocket, then got something else out.

A revolver.

Tears streamed down Betty’s face as she and everyone else knew what was about to happen next. Theo’s heart was now beating at one hundred miles an hour and…

Clifford aimed the gun at Jason, and with one swift motion, shot his only son’s brains out. Blood and brain matter splattering everywhere. Everyone gasped in response. Betty closed the computer, and got out her phone as Veronica began to sob, either because of what she witnessed or because that she was wrong about her father, or maybe both.

Betty explained everything to Cheryl, who she called. Theo wanted to say some things to her, but just let his cousin do the talking.

That night, the USB drive was turned in to the sheriff and mayor, and found out that F.P. only “confessed” because Clifford had threatened him that Jughead would suffer the same fate. Even though that cleared his name, Jughead and Sheriff Keller argued over his release, to no avail. F.P. Jones was going to be kept for other charges rather than murder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry if this chapter was a bit short. I rushed it, knowing it had been a while since I've updated. This chapter has been long overdue.


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